Fietp CoLtumBian Museum 


PUBLICATION 2. 


BY 


Wiuiam EvLeroy Curtis, 


’ 


Honorary Curator, Department of Columbus Memorial. 


Cnicaco, U. S. A, 
May, 1895. 


Facsimile of autographic statement of gold brought by Columbus from America. 


FIELD CoLuMBIAN MuSEUM 


PUBLICATION 2. 
Vor. 1. No. 


i) 


foe AUPHEN TIC LETTERS 
OF COLUMBUS: 


BY 
WILLIAM ELERoy CurtTIs, 


Honorary Curator, Department of Columbus Memorial. 


Cmicaco. Ui-S. A. 
May, 1895. 


Translations.. 
I. 


If. 


i, 
IV. 
ae 


Wi. 


XITI. 


XVI. 


XVII. 
: VILL 


INDEX TO CONTENTS. 


skies to eee a iaahellt ato » July a 
and September 25th, 1493.. 


Letter to Ferdinand and feabella e concerning Sapliés 
for and the government of the Indes, without date, 
but probably written before the second voyage... 

Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella from Granada, Feb- 
ruary 6th, 1502.. é 

Letter to Nicolo Oderigo ate Seville, Maren’ 21st, 
L502.. : : 

Letter to cane eaneitinrs oF the Baek of St. George, 
Genoa, from Seville, April 2nd, 1502. 

Letter to Father Gaspar Corricio (a Gerathmaiin ral 
at the monastery of Las Cuevas), San Lucar, April 
4th, 1502. 

Letter to Father Gaspar, Seville, May, 1502:. 

Letter to Father Cases from ae July 7th, 
1503; 

Draft upon es Ses ‘ae Moritie; mitaniter ce ite 
Crown, September 7th, 1504 

Draft upon Francisco de Morillo, cea 8th, 
iaite rl eis Swe Ape at em era pie 

Draft nih Francisco de Morillo, September oth 
1504. : : 

Letter to mee son ineee. es Saville ‘Newemiber 
ZESE, 150A: 

Letter to te son Ipeea! eon senile. iNepemiber 
2gth, 1504. : 
Letter to his son n Diego, ee Seville, bmceomber : Ist, 

1504. Sia fae 

Letter hie son Dieeo, Meeemnner eee 1504.. 

Memorandum enclosed in letter to his son Tees 
December 3rd, 1504. ; noe 

Letter to his son meee ‘Detember See 1504. 

Letter to his son Diege from Seville, Demers 21st, 
1504. Bi iacteN in sen aedeagal sy. 0) Scero/ eae isp ss 


Ce 


95 


{21 


123 


149 


151 
Ss) 


- 157 


96 


XIX. 
XX. 


XXI. 
XXII. 
XXITI. 


XXIV. 


XXV. 


XXVI. 


XXVIII. 
XXVIII. 


XXIX. 


XXX. 


XXXII. 


XXXII. 


CONTENTS. 


Postscript ‘to. this letter=...< 7.20. e's ee eee 
Letter to Nicolo Oderigo, Genoese Ambassador to 
Spain, from Seville, December 27th, 1504....... 


Letter to his son Dee from Seville, December 
2gth, 1504. sua etane 

Letter to Father Cane aus ake 1505. 

Letter to his son Diego, January 18th, 1505.. 

Letter to his son ee from Seville, February sth 
E505 

Letter to coe son Diego, irene Senile 
26th, .1505.. ae 

Draft of fore tert is to ire crane EB oainet the 
Crown of Spain based ue the contract with the 
Spanish Sovereigns .... 

Autographic statement by Cotombns af geile protons 
from America and sold by him in Castile, date 
probably 1493 

Original Draft by Columbus for one hundred gold 
castellanos, dated at Granada, October 22nd, 1501. 

Contract between Columbus and the Sovereigns— 
First voyage. : 

Royal letters area any the Sones A: ‘Suan 
commanding the inhabitants of Palos to furnish 
equipment for the Columbus caravels, 1492...... 

Royal letters patent from the Sovereigns of Spain 
granting license to the persons accompanying 
Columbus on his first WOV ASEH. a ala seo atere oe oe 

Letter to Louis Santangel giving an account af the 
first voyage and the discovery of the New World. 

The will of Colimbis see ae cee aay aah 


February 


¢ 6 a 0) 6 0 @ 08.6 (8, Ss 6 6.6.0.8 (a 6 (ee) 2) ele) eee ce eee 


- 168 


186 


188 


- 193 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Facsimile of autographic statement of gold brought from 
PAOTHETICA Treo = ie sol wicisle eee ss) s+ ane ess ove PONLISPIECe: 


Paesimile of letter to Nicolo Oderigo, March 2xst, rso2........ 
Facsimile of letter to the Governors of the Bank of St. George, 
at Genos, Apriiiznd, 102%... ..0:.. Cy nda aR eae be 
Facsimile of letter to Father Gaspar de Las Cuevas, April 4th, 
1502... o. . S) (@:/ehyelin't's le) e's), wile Tels| eel 0 vet.a\iel fever 6: (e 
Facsimile of letter to Father Gaspar de Las Cuevas, September 
Aths .T5O2.. : Rwaiaiceiars See mia Sloe fatale. wean: 
Facsimile of letter to Father Gaspar de Las Cuevas, July 7th, 
TOS ate at. ay ales bein s tae hroretar ay aU Sect tes A 
Facsimile of three letters to Francisco de Morillo, Treasurer of 
the Crown ... ee let : 
Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, November 
BGs TOA. are te mine etahcns tas SB apis in eee 


Facsimile of portion of letterto Don Diego Columbus, November 
BO EGOA ope A aac steals ave cere s sis. bey eharey Sepa en 
Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, December 

PS) FAME CY. cing 5 Rat ee ENE easier efogote repens > 
Facsimile of letter to Don Diego Columbus, December 3rd, 1504 
Facsimile of memorandum written to Don Diego Columbus, 


DSCE NINE SEU TG OA ne yale Oe ayers cites iacinsv eis 2% te XK ROVARG. 
Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, December 
Ne GOA tie ed sas 


Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, from 
Bewile WeceniMemcetst, UGOA. <1.tn cca pts oc eeeca kc cna hss 
Facsimile of portion of letter to Nicolo Oderigo, December 27th, 
ie Dv aie sia chenie eYaseiatas i cel atin hace sees? ete 
Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, December 
PRPUS DEG OAs. eins OOS, «Ge, s. PRA t eee eee are IOS raga 
Facsimile of portion of letter to Father Gaspar, January 4th, 1505 
Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, February 
Botillier ce Mix sa Oss Sole alee s\n, sashes o/c) ansible wavs. Sah arp oe 


PAGE 


98 ILLUSTRATIONS. 


The original Columbus documents described herein were exhib- 
ited under authority of the United States Government at the World’s 
Columbian Exposition. While in charge of the Department of State 
at Washington, photographs were taken of the entire collection, 
the negatives thereby secured being subsequently presented to 
the Field Columbian Museum by Act of Congress. The facsimiles 
thus obtained, now form a part of the material in the Department of 
Columbus Memorial of this Institution, and it was from these photo- 
graphs that the halftone illustrations in this bulletin were made. 


99 


The Authentic Letters of Columbus. 


There are known to be in existence twenty-nine autographs of 
Christopher Columbus, not including voluminous marginal notes in 
his handwriting upon the pages of several books that he owned or 
read. 

Of these autographs nineteen are letters entirely in his own hand 
and over his mysterious signature. Ten of them are addressed to his 
son Diego; four to Father Gaspar Corricio, a Carthusian monk who 
befriended him in his last days; two to Nicolo Oderigo, the Genoese 
Ambassador to Spain; two to Ferdinand and Isabella, and one to the 
Governors of the Bank of St. George, Genoa. 

There are also six memoranda written wholly in his hand but un- 
signed. Two are for the information and guidance of his son Diego; 
two relate to his claims against the crown of Spain; one refers to his 
arrest and imprisonment, and the other is a statement of the disposi- 
tion of the gold he brought from the Indies when he returned from 
his first voyage. 

There are also in existence three drafts or orders for money in 
his handwriting, and bearing his signature; two of them addressed to 
Francisco de Morillo, in payment for naval supplies, and the other to 
Alonzo de Morales, Treasurer, for money advanced to pay his travel- 
-ing expenses from Granada to Seville. 

There is also a copy of a letter he received from Dr. Toscanelli, 
a learned Florentine astronomer, some years before he started on 
his voyage, which confirms his theory of a western passage from 
Spain to the Indies. That is written upon the fly leaf of a book 
in his well-known hand, and is probably the oldest autograph in ex- 
istence. 

And, finally, there exists in Seville a volume of manuscript writ- 
ten partly by Christopher Columbus, partly by his brother Barthole- 
mew, and partly by two amanuenses. 

All of these autographs, except the Toscanelli letter, were written 
during the last years of his life, and most of them while Columbus 
was residing in the old monastery of Las Cuevas, on the outskirts of 
Seville, under the protection of the Carthusian friars. All of the 


Too Fietp CoLtumMBIAN Museum. 


manuscripts are so well preserved as to be easily photographed. His 
penmanship is firm, clear, and regular, in places even ornamental, 
although, under date of December 1, 1504, he tells Diego, ‘‘ My ill- 
ness prevents me from writing, except at night. In the day my hands 
have no strength.” He was then about sixty years old. 

The greater number of the autographs are the property of the 
Duke of Veragua, the present head of the Columbus family, who has 
also the original commission under which the memorable voyage of 
discovery was made, a number of royal orders concerning the 
preparations for that voyage, and several autograph letters addressed 
to Columbus by Ferdinand and Isabella, the sovereigns of Spain. 

At the request of the Congress of the United States, expressed in 
a formal resolution, and conveyed to him through President Harrison, 
Veragua generously loaned the entire collection for exhibition in the 
Convent of La Rabida at the World’s Columbian Exposition, and they 
furnished the most interesting historical exhibit there. 

The letters and memoranda addressed to the sovereigns are in 
the archives of the Spanish Government. The other papers belong to 
the Columbian Library at Seville, the Municipal Government of 
Genoa, and to the Duke of Berwick and Alba, who also loaned his 
collection for exhibition at Chicago. 

There are unsupported statements concerning letters and other 
autographs of Columbus in the possession of English collectors from 
fifty to a hundred years ago, but if they ever existed they have disap- 
peared and no traces can be found of them. 

Columbus was a very voluminous writer. Ninety-seven docu- 
ments from his pen are known. He may have written many more, 
for his reputation in this respect was such as to cause the court jester 
of Charles V. to say that he and Ptolemy, the Egyptian geographer, 
‘‘were twins in the art of blotting.” Another contemporary, Zuniga, 
in a letter to the Marquis de Pescara, says: ‘‘God grant that Gutier- 
rez may never come short for paper, for he writes more than Ptolemy, 
and more than Columbus, who discovered the Indies.” Fortunately 
sixty-four of his compositions are preserved entire. They consist of 
letters descriptive of his plans, arguments and memoranda to sustain 
his theories concerning a western passage to the Indies, memorials to 
the court and appeals for justice, narratives of his voyage and per- 
sonal correspondence. Some of his letters have never been printed. 
Several had never been translated into English until the preparation 
of this Monograph, andit may be asource of consolation to disappointed 
Jiterary aspirants to know that a manuscript book by so eminent a man 
as he who discovered America has been awaiting a publisher for 
nearly four hundred years. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 10! 


The least interesting of the manuscripts of Columbus, if offered 
for sale, would doubtless command a higher price than was ever yet 
paid for an autograph, and the enormous value that attaches to them 
has caused several clever forgeries of the Genoa document to be made. 
Some years ago an imitation of the letter to the Governors of the Bank 
of St. George was offered to the late Mr. S. L. M. Barlow, of New 
York, for the sum of two thousand dollars. He placed the matter in 
the hands of Mr. Henry Harrisse, the celebrated Columbian scholar 
of Paris, who very cleverly detected and exposed the forgery. He 
discovered that it was the work of an Italian rascal, who was after- 
wards condemned for theft and other crimes and committed to the 
prison of San Guiliano Persiceto in Genoa in 1885, under sentence of 
imprisonment for four years. It appears that the forger obtained 
from a book inthe National Library at Paris blank sheets of vellum 
nearly of the exact size, age and texture as that upon which the gen- 
uine letter was written. Next, with a very soft lead pencil he black- 
ened a sheet of ordinary thin paper on one side. This he tacked to the 
sheet of vellum, and having procured a photograph of the original 
pasted it upon the blank side of the paper. Then, with a pointed in- 
strument he traced every letter and mark, which transferred a fac- 
simile of the original to the vellum. Having removed the blackened 
page and the original he renewed the tracing with ink, chemically 
prepared so as to show age in the color. 

A similar forgery, perhaps the same, is now in the possession of 
a New York gentleman, who undoubtedly believes in its genuineness; 
and, in 1892, fac-similes of all three of the Genoa letters, undoubtedly 
made ina similar manner, were sold to the President of Guatemala 
for a large sum of money, having been pronounced genuine by a com- 
mittee of learned scholars in Spain. 

During his memorable voyage of discovery Columbus kept a 
minute journal, but it has entirely disappeared. After his death his 
papers were stored in an iron chest in the Monastery of Las Cuevas, 
near Seville, where he was buried. The building is now used as a por- 
celain factory. After his body was removed to Santo Domingo about 
1540, the chest and its contents remained in the possession of the Car- 
thusian friars for seventy years or so, when, in 1609, they were deliv- 
ered to Nuno de Portugal, who had been declared by the Council of the 
Indies the heir to his titles, privileges and estates. Meantime Bar- 
tholemew Las Casas, who was known as ‘‘the apostle to the Indies,” 
had access to the documents in the preparation of his history of the 
Indies, and in that volume included a large portion of the journal, 
which was afterwards translated into English and published by Samuel 


102 FieLp CoLumMBIAN MuSEuUM. 


Kettell, in Boston, about 1832. What became of the original of the 
journal when Las Casas finished his work is unknown. It cannot be 
traced any farther than his hands, 

Don Luis, the son of Diego Columbus, and the grandson of 
Christopher, was a worthless fellow, and after a career of adventures 
and dissipation was banished for bigamy to Africa, where he died, 
and the male line of the great discoverer became extinct seventy years 
after his death. Then began a series of law suits for the succession, 
which continued for two hundred and fifteen years until 1790, when 
the courts confirmed the claims of Don Mariano Colonde Toledo, the 
grandfather of the present Duke of Veragua, who was descended from 
the second son of Luis. In the meantime the family archives, includ- 
ing the precious papers that were exhibited at the World’s Fair, were 
passed from one branch of the family to another, and many of them 
were lost. 

The defeated claimant, Don Carlos Fernando Fitz-James Stuart, 
was a descendent of the youngest daughter of Luis Columbus. Some 
of his ancestors intermarried with the royal family of Stuarts of Scot- 
land, and to him and to them the present Duke of Berwick-Alba 
traces his line. Several interesting autographs which were not trans- 
ferred with the rest to the successful contestant are still in the posses- 
sion of the latter gentleman, and were loaned for exhibition at Chi- 
cago. His wife, the present Duchess, a lady of rare accomplishments, 
has written a valuable history of the papers and published it at Madrid 
for private circulation. They include a memorandum prepared in 1504 
by Christopher Columbus in support of his claims under his contract 
made with the sovereigns of Spain before the first voyage of discov- 
ery was undertaken; an autographic statement of the disposition of 
the gold he brought with him from Hispaniola on that voyage, and 
several drafts or orders for money which he desired paid to persons 
with whom he had business. 

Both the Duke of Veragua and the Duke of Berwick-Alba have 
a full appreciation of the value of the papers, and preserve them in 
handsomely carved oaken chests. 

One of the letters in the Duke of Veragua’s collection, which was 
exhibited in La Rabida, is an original from the king of Portugal. It 
is believed that Columbus left Lisbon after the death of his wife to 
escape his creditors. The popular understanding, based upon his own 
statements, is that his departure was due to indignation at the action 
of the king in secretely sending an expedition into the western sea to 
ascertain the truth of his theory. But there is a record of his appli- 
cation to Prince John II, in 1488, two years later, for a passport to 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 103 


visit Lisbon to see his brother Bartholomew, who had just returned 
from an expedition to the Cape of Good Hope, This passport of safe 
conduct was necessary to protect, him from arrest, and it will be seen 
from the answer, by the hand of the king himself, who writes with 
very good feeling, that Columbus feared both civil and criminal 
prosecution. This letter is as follows: 


‘We, Don Juan, by the grace of God, King of Portugal and the 
Algarbes, of the sea this side and the other of Africa, and of Guinea, 
do hereby send you a hearty greeting: We have read your letter, 
which made us acquainted with the good will and attachment you 
show through the whole of it towards us and for our service, and we 
are very grateful to you for your feelings. In regard to your coming 
here, we say that owing to what you indicate, and for other reasons, 
as well as for the desire of judging by ourselves of your industry and — 
good talent, we shall thereby rejoice and be much pleased. And we say 
further that as far as we are concerned all things will be fixed in such 
a way as to give you full satisfaction. In order to avoid trouble when 
you reach, whether by virtue of circumstances or otherwise, any port 
or place under our jurisdiction, we give you by these presents free ad- 
mission to all the said ports and places, and full permission to stay or 
leave, assuring you that you will not be molested in any way, or sum- 
moned or sued, whether civilly or criminally, for any cause whatever. 
And by means of this our Royal letter we do command all our tribun- 
als and authorities to do as herein directed. Whereupon we pray you 
to come promptly and have no fear or apprehension whatever.” 

The Genoa autographs are perhaps the most interesting of all the 
relics of Columbus that remain. Before starting upon his fourth and 
last voyage in the spring of 1502, infirm in health and with impaired 
confidence in his sovereigns and the council of the Indies, Columbus 
had copies of all his contracts, privileges and commissions made and 
certified by the royal notary, and forwarded them to Nicolo de Oder- 
igo, the Genoese Ambassador to the Spanish court, to be deposited 
with the Bank of St. George at Genoa, which was to the commercial 
world in those days what the Bank of England is to-day, and to be 
held in trust for the benefit of his heirs. He addressed the governors 
of that institution the following characteristic letter: 

‘‘Although my body is here my heart is always near you. Our 
Lord has bestowed upon me the greatest favor that He has ever 
granted to anyone except David. The results of my undertaking are 
already being seen, and would shine considerably if the darkness of 
the government did not conceal them. I shall go again to the Indies 
in the name of the Holy Trinity, and shall soon return. But as Iam 
a mortal, I have ordered my son, Don Diego, to give you every year, 
forever, the tenth of all the revenues obtained, in payment of the 
taxes on wheat, wine and other provisions. If this tenth amounts to 
anything, please take it. If not, take my will for my deed. I ask you 
as a favor to attend to my said son Don Diego. Nicolo de Oderigo 


' 104 Fietp Cotumpian Museum. 


knows all about my letters of concessions and privileges, and I have 
asked him to take good care of them. I wish you would see them. 
The King and Queen, my sovereigns, wish to honor me now more 
than ever. The Holy Trinity may keep your noble persons in its 
keeping and increase the importance of your magnificent office.” 

He signs himself ‘‘The Great Admiral of the Ocean Sea, and 
Viceroy and Governor of the Islands and Mainland of Asia and the 
Indies belonging to the King and Queen, my sovereigns, The Cap- 
tain General of the Sea, and a member of their Council.” 

Upon his return to Spain in 1504, having heard nothing from the 
Bank or from Oderigo about these documents, he writes an indignant 
letter which he signs ‘‘ The Great Admiral of the Ocean, Viceroy and 
Governor General of the Indies, etc.” He says: 

“‘At about the same time of my departure from here, I sent to 
you by Francisco de Ribarol a book containing copies of several let- 
ters, and another in which all the grants and privileges given me 
were also copied, the whole inclosed in a red morocco case, with a silver 
lock. I also sent with the same man two letters to the St. George 
gentlemen, in which I assigned to them one-tenth of my revenues, in 
consideration of and compensation for the reduction made on the 
duties on wheat and other supplies. To nothing of this have I had 
any reply. Micer Francisco says that everything arrived safely. If 
this is the case, the failure of the St. George gentlemen to answer my 
letters is an act of discourtesy, for which the Treasury is by no means 
better off. This is the reason why it is generally said that to serve 
common people is to serve no one. 


‘Another book of my privileges, equal to the one above men- 
tioned, was left by me at Cadiz with Francisco Catanio, (who is the 
bearer of this letter) with instructions to send it to you, in order that 
you would keep it together with the other, in some safe place, at your 
discretion.” 

The letters and documents sent by Columbus to the Bank of St. 
George were, however, duly entered upon the records of that institu- 
tion, and the original may be seen in the handwriting of the chancellor 
on pages 256 and 257 of the manual for 1503. After the bank went 
into liquidation the precious documents, which are now referred to as 
the Codice Diplomatico, were transferred to the custody of the city 
authorities of Genoa, and are still preserved in what is called the 
‘‘Custodia,” a marble shaft surmounted by a bust of Columbus. 
There has recently been made, under the direction of the city gov- 
ernment of Genoa, a beautiful fac-simile of the entire collection of 
papers. 

The duplicate book which Columbus refers to as ‘‘ My privileges 
equal (or similar) to the one mentioned above,” which was left with 
Francisco Catanio with instructions to send it to Nicolo Oderigo in or- 


AUTHENTIC LeTTEeRsS oF COLUMBUS. 105 


der that he might keep it with the first copy in some safe place, was 
taken by Napoleon I. from the municipal palace in Genoa when he 
captured that city in 1808. It was carried to Paris and deposited in 
the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, where it remains until 
this day. Mr. Benjamin Franklin Stevens, the well known American 
bookseller of London, has recently reproduced this historical volume 
with wonderful accuracy, and with copious and valuable historical 
notes. ° 

All the writings of Columbus reflect his deep religious spirit, but 
now and then they show a glimpse of humor and a touch of human 
indignation. Before he commenced a letter or memoranda of any 
kind he always made the sign of the cross, with his pen, at the top of 
the sheet, and wrote an invocation. His son Fernando perpetrated 
an Irish bull when he said of his father: 

“Tf he had anything to write he did not use his pen until he had 
first written these words, ‘Jesus cum Maria sit nobis in vita,’ and 
made the sign of the cross. 

Las Casas says: ‘‘ Whenever he writes a letter or any other docu- 
ment he always places at the top, ‘Jesus cum Maria sit nobis in via.’ 
Of his writings thus done with his own hand I now have in my pos- 
session a quantity.” 

Columbus usually closed his letters with the expression, ‘‘ May 
God guard youin his holy keeping.” In writing to the king and 
queen he says: ‘‘I shall ever pray to God, our Lord, to preserve the 
lives of Your Majesties, and enlarge your domains.” Again: ‘‘ May 
the Holy Trinity be pleased to give health to my Lady the Queen.” 
Or again: ‘‘May the Holy Trinity preserve Your Highnesses as I 
wish and as we all need, with all your great estates and domains.” 

In aletter to Nicolo Oderigo, before departing upon his voyaze 
he said: ‘‘I am ready to sail, with the favor of the Holy Trinity, as 
soon as the weather permits it,” and from the Canary Islands he 
wrote to Father Gaspar at Seville: ‘‘Our Lord gave me such good 
weather that I arrived here in four days. Now I am going to continue 
my voyage in the name of the Holy Trinity and expect to succeed.”’ 

After hearing the news of the death of Queen Isabella, who was 
always his warmest friend and most ardent defender at court, he 
writes to Diego, his son: ‘‘ The principal thing now is to commend 
to God affectionately and with much devotion the soul of our Lady, 
the Queen. Her life was always catholic and holy. She was always 
ready for the things of God’s holy service, and for this it must be 
believed that she is in His holy glory and beyond all desires relative 
to this rough and tiresome world. Second, an effort should be made 


106 Fietp CoLuMBIAN MuSEuUM. 


thoroughly and in all things to serve well the King, our Lord, and 
prevent him from being displeased. His Highness is the head of all 
Christendom. Remember the proverb that says that when the head 
aches all the members ache also. Therefore all good Christians 
must pray for the preservation of his health and for his being 
- granted a long life.” 

In December, 1504, he writes to Diego: ‘‘I am living on what 
money I can borrow. The money I got there (in the Indies) was 
spent in bringing back to their homes the people who had gone with 
me, for it would have been a grave sin for me to leave them there 
unprotected. But Our Lord lives and he will fix everything as he 
knows to be the best for us.” 

Ina letter to Diego, written from Seville on the 21st of Novem- 
ber, the same year, he says: ‘‘My safe arrival and all the rest is 
in the hands of Our Lord. His mercy is infinite. Saint Augustine 
says that what is being done, or is about to be done, is a thing 
already done before the creation of the world.” 

‘It istrue that I served Their Highnesses with as much, or greater 
diligence and love as I might have displayed in trying to gain Para- 
dise. IfI failed to do something it was due either to the impossi- 
bility of the thing itself, or to its being entirely beyond my know- 
ledge and my power. God, Our Lord, requires in such cases only 
the will.” 

In the same letter he refers to the fact that the brothers Porres, 
who mutinied and made him so much trouble when his vessel was 
wrecked at Jamaica, had been set free ‘‘by those who have charge of 
all the business of the Indies,” and he observes: ‘‘I will not won- 
der if Our Lord punishes some one for this.” ; 

The recommendations of Columbus, to the sovereigns, concerning 
the management of affairs in the American colonies are sensible and 
practicable, although as an executive officer he proved a great fail- 
ure. His preaching was better than his practice. In a letter writ- 
ten to Ferdinand and Isabella, in September, 1493, he says: 

‘¢ And in order to secure the better and prompter settlement of 
the said islands, I should suggest furthermore that the privilege of 
getting gold be granted exclusively to those who have acquired a 
domicile and built a dwelling-house in the town of their residence, 
so as to persuade them all to live close to each other and be better 
protected: 

‘‘Andfurther, that, whereas the extreme anxiety of the colonists 
to gather gold may induce them to neglect all other business and 
occupations, it seems to me that prohibition should be made to them 
to engage in the search of gold during some season of the year only 
so as to give all other business, profitable to the island, an oppor- 
tunity to be established and carried on.” 


AvuTHENtIC Letrrers or CoL_umbus. 107 


There is a paragraph in this letter which contradicts the general 
jmpression that Columbus was envious and jealous of other voyagers, 
and wanted to keep the Indies to himself, for he says: ‘‘As far as 
the business of discovering other lands is concerned, it is my opinion 
that permission to do so should be given to every one who desires to 
embark in it, 4nd that some liberality should be shown in reducing 
the fifth to be paid as tribute, so as to encourage as many as possible 
to enter into such undertakings,’’* 

In another letter, written subsequently, on the same subject, he 
makes a queer suggestion that the colonists be furnished with ‘‘salted 
flour, the salt to be mixed with the flour at the time it is milled.” 

The letters also give us a glimpse of his theology and philoso- 
phy. In a communication to the sovereigns of Spain, written from 
Granada, in 1502, he says: 

*«Sailors and other people who are conversant with the sea have 
always a better knowledge than all others of the parts of the world 
which they visit more frequently, or with which they do business 
oftener. Every one knows best what he sees every day, and what 
has happened lately is better known than what took place years ago. 
Hence it is that we hail with delight whatever is said to us by those 
who were eye witnesses of the facts, and no teaching proves to us 
more thorough and complete than that which comes to us through 
our own experience and observation. 

‘‘Whether we admit that the shape of the world is spherical, as 
many writers affirm it to be, or bow to the decision of science if its 
conclusion is different, the fact of the diversity of climate within the 
same zone must remain undisturbed. That diversity will be 
observed on land as well as on the sea. 

“The sun exercises its influence on the earth, and the earth 
receives it ina greater or lesser degree, according to the character 
of its surface, whether mountainous or depressed. The ancients 
were well acquainted with this fact and wrote a good deal about it. 
Pliny went so far as to say that at the region of the North Pole, ex- 
actly at the same zone, the temperature is so mild that the people who 
inhabit the spot never die, unless they themselves, getting tired of 
living, put an end to their existence.” 

The little glimpses of human nature that we have now and then 
in his letters is quite amusing. For example, he writes to Diego, 
after the death of Isabella: ‘‘ You must investigate whether 
the Queen, whom God hath in His glory, said something in her will 
about me.” 

Again, in a letter to Diego, referring to the indifference with which 
he was treated by the sovereigns, he says: ‘‘There is a proverb 
which saith that the eye of the owner maketh the horse fat. Here 
and there and everywhere, however, I shall serve Their Highnesses 
with pleasure as long as my soul remains united with my body.” 


* All persons who discovered or visited new lands were compelled to surrender as tribute to 
the Sovereigns of Spain one-fifth of all articles of value they brought home 


108 Fietp CoLumMBIAN MUSEUM. 


In another letter he writes: ‘‘ They say that Comancho and 
Master Bernal are anxious to go back there (that is, to Santo Do- 
mingo). They are two of those creatures for whom God hath made 
no miracles. If they go it will be to do harm rather than good, but 
they can do little because the truth will always prevail. This Master 
Bernal was the one who started the treasonable movement. He was 
arrested and charged with many crimes, for each of which he de- 
served to be quartered. At the request of your uncle and others he 
was pardoned, on the condition, however, that the pardon should be 
revoked and that he should be lable to punishment in the proper 
way if he said the slightest thing against me and my officers. 

‘*As to Comancho, I will send you some legal papers. For 
more than eight days he has remained insidethe church, without daring 
to leave it, for fear of the trouble in which he might get for his rash- 
ness and slanders. Diego Mendez is well acquainted with Master 
Bernal and his doings. The governor wanted to put him in prison 
while at Hispaniolo, but at my request he left him free. They say 
that he killed two men there with poison in revenge for some wrong 
which did not amount to three beans,” 

In 1504 he writes to Diego: ‘‘The caravel whose mast was 
broken when leaving Santo Domingo, has arrived. She brings the 
record of the investigation in the Porres matter. So many ugly 
things and such a display of cruelty as will be shown there has never 
before been seen. If Their Highnesses do not inflict the proper 
punishment I do not know how any person will ever dare to go 
abroad again to serve them.” 

He writes again to Diego: ‘‘It seems to me that a good copy 
should be made of that portion of the letter which Their Highnesses 
wrote to me, in which they promise to fulfill their engagements with me 
and give possession of everything to you, and that the copy be deliv- 
ered to Their Highnesses, together with a statement in writing, ex- 
plaining my sickness and the impossibility in which I am now pre- 
vented to go and kiss their royal hands and feet, and saying also that 
the Indies are going to ruin, and as if they were on fire on every 
Sie | 

Diego Columbus was intended for the church. After the death 
of his mother in Portugal he came to Spain with his father, and when 
Columbus asked for bread and water at the gate of La Rabida he 
was on his way to the neighboring town of Moguer, where a sister of 
his wife, named Sefiora Mulier, was living, with whom he intended 
to leave the boy while he went into the interior to present his plans 
and theories to the sovereigns of Spain. It is supposed that Diego 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 109 


remained at La Rabida, in charge of the monks, while his father was 
following the court during the eight long years that passed before 
he finally received his instructions to make the memorable voyage, 
although there is no evidence except a tradition among the Francis- 
can fathers that he was educated at the convent. 

The next we hear of him is his appointment as a page to Prince 
Juan, the sonand heir of Ferdinand and Isabella, shortly before the 
departure of Columbus on his first voyage. After the death of the 
young prince Diego remained at the court, first as a page to Isabella, 
and then as a courtier, leading a useless and dissolute life. 

In his will Columbus made Diego his sole heir, but imposed 
upon him many pious injunctions and obligations. To most, if not 
all of them, however, Diego was totally indifferent, and although while 
he was in the train of Ferdinand he did little or nothing to secure the 
rights of his father or relieve his distress, within twelve days after 
the death of the admiral we find Diego importuning the king for the 
official recognition of himselfand the pecuniary dues for which Colum- 
bus had so long and persistently appealed. Ferdinand permitted him 
to bring a suit in the courts to establish the claims of the Columbus 
family against the crown of Spain, and it was decided in favor of 
Diego, but not until after his marriage to Donia Maria de Toledo, a 
cousin of the king, and a member of the most influential family at 
court, was the verdict satisfied, and even then only partially. 

Columbus had a profound fondness for Diego, and wrote him 
long and affectionate letters while he was absent on his several voy- 
ages, but the frivolities of court life seemedeto have absorbed the at- 
tention of the young man, and we find hisfather frequently complaining 
of a lack of affection for himself, as well as for his brother Fernando. 

There is a great deal of pathos in the letters of Columbus to his 
son, but the latter, engaged by the allurements and dissipations of 
‘the court, paid little attention to his poor old father, who, broken in 
health and spirits, was passing the last unhappy years of his life un- 
der the shelter of the friendly monastery at Seville. ‘‘I should like 
to have letters from you every day,” he writes in December, 1504, 
‘“Your father loves you more than himself.” Columbus refers to 
himas ‘‘My dearest son, Diego, by whom it pleases me to hear 
that His Highness is well served.” Again he reproaches Diego for 
his indifference to his uncle Bartholomew, and says: ‘‘I beg you to pay 
to your uncle that respect which isdue to him.” Againhe says: ‘‘How 
grieved I feel when I see that everybody here receives letters and 
that I who have so many of my people there do not receive any.” In 
April, 1502, he says: ‘Since your letter of the r5th of Novem- 


110 FieLp CoLuMBIAN MUSEUM. 


ber I have heard nothing from you. I wish that you would write to 
me very often. _I should like to receive a letter from you every 
hour. Reason must tell you that I could not have a better source of 
relief from my afflictions. Many are the messengers who reach here 
every day, and the information they bring is such as to make my 
hairs stand on end.” Again he says: ‘‘I am astonished at not re- 
ceiving any letter from you above all others, and this astonishment 
is shared by all who are acquainted with me. Everybody else here 
has letters, but I, entitled more than all to expect them, receive none,” 


The confidence Columbus placed in his son Fernando is quite as 
conspicuous as his lack of faith in Diego, for he writes, saying: ‘“To 
make your efforts (that is, Diego’s attempt to secure justice for his 
father, from the king and queen) more efficient I have decided to 
send to you your brother, who, although a child in days, is nota 
child in understanding.” Again he writes: ‘‘Take good care of 
your brother. He has a very good dispositon, and is no longer a 
boy. If you had ten brothers their number would not be too large. 
I have never found better friends under all circumstances than my 
brothers.” 


It appears that Diego did not treat his half brother with very 
much respect or affection, for we find his father admonishing him 
again: ‘‘ Treat your brother as an elder brother should treat the 
younger. Youhave no other brother, and the Lord must be blessed 
for having made him such a good one. He has proved and continues 
to be a person of very clear head.” 


Now and then in his letters Columbus gives a bit of family gos- 
sip and on November 28, 1504, he writes Diego: ‘‘ Your uncle has 
been very sick and is still suffering a good deal with tooth-ache and 
some trouble with his jaws.” 


In December, 1504, he writes: ‘‘Don Fernando left here with 
150 ducats, to be expended at his discretion. He will have to use 
some part of that money, but he will give you whatever he can, He 
also carries with him a letter of credit upon some of your merchants 
there. You must be careful in this matter, because I have already 
had some trouble with the governor. Everybody told me that 
I had there some eleven or twelve thousand castellanos, and the 
result was that I had only four thousand. He wanted to charge me 
with many things which I was not bound to pay, and I, trusting on 
the promises made by Their Highnesses, that restitution of every- 
thing should be ordered to be made to me, decided to allow him to 
go on with his charges. I was in hopes that some day I could call 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. IIt 


him to account for that. He isso overbearing that nobody who has 
money there dares to ask for it. Miguel Diaz and Velazquez dare 
not even mention the subject to him.” ’ 

As his age and infirmities increased, the anxiety of Columbus to 
secure arecognition of his claims grew greater, and he expressed a 
desire to go to Valladolid, where the court was sitting. But he says 
that he had ‘‘ fear to make the journey because the ailment that 
afflicts me is so bad and the cold weather aggravates it so much that 
it is possible that I might be left on the road or in some of the inns. 
Stretchers and all the other things were ready, but the weather be- 
came so formidable that nobody could think of traveling, and every- 
one said that it was better for a person so well-known as I am to 
attend to my health and not run any risk. My illness,” he adds, 
‘‘prevents me from writing except at night. In the day time my 
hands have no strength.” 

A few months later he writes to Diego saying that ‘‘if without 
being importunate a permit can be obtained for me to ride on mule- 
back, I will try to go there (Valladolid) after the month of January,” 
A few weeks later he notified Diego again of his desire to make the 
journey, and says: ‘‘If the permit to ride on muleback can be ob- 
tained without trouble I would be pleased, and then I would like 
also to have a good mule.” 

The application for this permit was made necessary by an order 
issued a few months previous prohibiting the use of mules in travel- 
ing, except by royal permission, on account of the difficulty of secur- 
ing a sufficient number of animals for military purposes. Cardinal 
Mendoza had placed his litter at the disposal of the old sailor, but 
he preferred to go on muleback. It appears that the request of 
Diego was granted, for about two months after this letter was writ- 
ten the king issued the following curious order, dated at the city of 
Toro, February 23, 1505. 

“‘Decree granting to Don Christopher Colon permission to ride 
on a mule saddled and bridled through any part of these. kingdoms: 

‘‘The King: AsIam informed that you, Christopher Colon, the 
Admiral, are in poor health, owing to certain diseases which you had 
or have, and that you cannot ride on horseback without injury to 
your health, therefore, conceding this to your advanced age, I, by 
these presents, grant you license to ride on a mule, saddled and 
bridled, through whatever parts of these kingdoms or realms you 
wish and choose, notwithstanding the law which I issued thereto; 
and I command the citizens of all parts of these kingdoms and 
realms not to offer you any impediment or ailow any to be offered to 
you, under penalty of ten thousand maravedi in behalf of the treasury 
from whoever does to the contrary.” 


II2 FieLtp CoLumMBIAN Museum. 


After many attempts to make a journey he was too weak to un- 
dertake, Columbus started in May, 1505, under the patient and 
affectionate care of his brother, Bartholomew, and reached Segovia, 
where the king was living, in the following August; but his cool re- 
ception by the King only increased his mortification and distress. 
His personal application for redress was quite as ineffective as his 
letters, and he sank in despair. On the 25th of August he made his 
will, which is avery long and comprehensive document, and then, 
from his bed, renewed his written appeals, not for himself, as he 
realized that his days were numbered, but in behalf of his son. He 
begged King Ferdinand to bestow upon Diego the honors he had 
won, and restore to him the rights and authority of which he had 
been deprived. 

The house at Valladolid, Spain, in which Columbus died, May 
20, 1506, is still standing, and is visited by multitudes of tourists. 
At the time of his death it was aninn. His brother, Bartholomew, 
was with him. In none of the chronicles of the times, and they are 
numerous, is there any allusion to the event. It was not until nearly 
a month after that the fact was officially recorded, and then in the 
briefest and most indifferent manner. On the back of one of his be- 
lated appeals tothe king some clerk wrote this endorsement: 

‘The within admiral is dead.” i 

That is the only record in the archives of the Nation of the loss 
of him who brought Spain her greatest glory. 

His letters written from Jamaica while on his voyage, in 1503, 
to Father Gaspar, show the same profound piety and the same loy- 
alty to the sovereigns of Spain that appears in his other communica- 
tions. ‘‘ If my voyage could prove as conducive to my personal 
health and to the welfare of my house as it promises of aggrandise- 
ment to the royal crown of the King and Queen, my masters,” he 
writes, ‘‘I might hope to live more than a thousand years;” and 
again from San Lucar he tells the ‘‘Reverend and Most Pious 
Father: If the anxiety to hear from you troubles me in the places 
where I am going as much as it does here I shall feel very badly.” 

While at Seville, in 1505, Columbus saw a good deal of Ameri- 
cus Vespucci. They had become acquainted in 1493, while the ad- 
miral was fitting out the ships for his second voyage; the contract 
for furnishing the supplies having been awarded to a merchant 
named Beradi, by whom Vespucci was employed, and the latter had 
active charge of the business. In the meantime Vespucci had him- 
self made two voyages, cruising along a good deal of the northern 
coast of South America, and down the east coast as far as Bahia, 


a _ 


AUTHENTIC LeTtTrrs or CoLuMBuS. Tig 


Brazil, where the Portuguese had established a trading post. It was 
at the conclusion of his second voyage, in September, 1504, that 
Americus wrote the account of his discoveries, which three years 
later, caused his name to be given to the New World; but there is 
no reason to believe that he anticipated or even hoped that his fame 
would be so closely linked to the western hemisphere. Nor is there 
any evidence of the slightest rivalry or jealousy between the two voy- 
agers. On the contrary, on the 5th of February, 1504, Columbus 
writes from the convent of Cartuja, at Seville, to his son, Diego, as 
follows: 

“Diego Mendez left here on Monday, the 3d of the present month. 
After he left I spoke with Amerigo Vespusze, the bearer of this 
letter, who goes there, where he has been called on the business of 
navigation. He always wanted to please me. He is avery honest man, 
Fortune has been as adverse to him as to many others, and his labors 
have not been so profitable to him as it was reasonable to expect. 
He goes for my good and is very anxious to do everything that 
may prove beneficial to meif it is within his power. I do not know of 
any particular thing in which I might instruct him to my benefit, 
because I do not know exactly what he is wanted for there. He goes 
determined to do for me all that he may possibly do. You must see 
what kind of service he may render to my advantage, and codperate 
with him in having it rendered. He will work and speak and do 
everything suggested, but the suggestion must be made secretly, so 
as to remove suspicion,” 

After the death of his wife and his arrival in Spain, about 1486, 
Columbus fell in love with Beatriz Enriquez, a woman of good fam- 
ily, of Cordova. She was the mother of his son Fernando, and sur- 
vived him, although nothing is known of her whereabouts during the 
time of his attendance at the court of Spain and while he was absent 
on his voyages. In his will the admiral directs his son Diego ‘‘to 
take care of Beatriz Enriquez, mother of Don Fernando, my son; 
supply her with all that can enable her to live in an honorable man- 
ner, she being a person to whom I am under such grave obligations; 
and do this to relieve my conscience, because it weighs heavily on 
my soul.” That the family of Beatriz found no fault with her rela- 
tions with Columbus is inferred from the fact that her brother com- 
manded one of his ships during the third voyage. 

Near the banks of the Guadalquiver river, on the outskirts of 
the city of Seville, a magnificent tree marks the place where stood 
the splendid abode of Fernando Columbus. This tree is said to 
have grown from a shrub brought from the New World by 
Christopher Columbus. 

The mansion was long known as ‘‘The House of the Admiral,” 


IT4 FIELD CoLumBIAN Museum. 


although there is no evidence that he ever lived in it; but it was oc- 
cupied by Fernando Columbus for many years, and until his death. 

Fernando was born about 1488. We know nothing about his 
early life, but in 1502, when the admiral sailed on his last voyage, he 
accompanied the expedition. Subsequently he was appointed a page 
at court, where he appears to have received a good education and 
acquired a literary taste. Asa member of the retinue of Charles V 
he seems to have been a favorite with that monarch. Fernando 
traveled extensively in western Europe, and not only learned much by 
observation, but became an ardent collector of books in all languages. 
Oviedo describes him as a person of sweet dispostion, affable manners, 
and nobility of character. 

Although Columbus in his will gave the greater portion of his 
estates to Diego, his legitimate son, King Ferdinand awarded to 
Fernando a considerable amount of land in San Domingo, and 
Charles V. gave him a generous pension, so that his income was 
more than $30,000 a year. There is no evidence that he ever mar- 
ried or had children, for at his death, in 1539, he left all his property, 
including a very large library, to his nephew Luis, the son of Diego 
Columbus. This library was one of the most notable collections of 
books in Europe, and is said to have contained twenty thousand vol- 
umes, which were mostly obtained between 1510 and 1537. Nearly 
every volume in the collection contained a memoranda giving the 
date and place of purchase, and affording a clue to the extent and 
direction of his travels. That he was a studious reader is shown by 
the copious annotations made upon the margins. 

Don Luis Columbus, who was in Santo Domingo at the time, 
appears to have cared nothing for the books. He allowed them to 
pass into the control of the monks attached to the cathedral at 
Seville, and by royal command the manuscripts in the collection 
were placed in the national archives of Spain. Although Fernando 
left a legacy for the care and increase of the library, the funds ap- 
pear to have been diverted to other uses, and the precious volumes 
were neglected until 1832, when it was found that the principal of 
the legacy had entirely disappeared and two-thirds of the books 
were missing. It was not until 1885, when Henry Harrisse, the 
famous Columbian scholar, called public attention to the outrage, 
that the Spanish government ordered the library repaired and cata- 
logued, and placed in proper shelter and custody at Seville. There 
is a catalogue of the collection in the handwriting of the owner, 
which shows that it was of inestimable value. It appears, also, that 
it contained a manuscript work on the New World by Fernando him- 
self, but that has disappeared with many other priceless manuscripts 
and printed volumes. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. T15 


Fernando Columbus is buried in the cathedral, in Seville, and 
the resting place of his bones is covered by a tablet bearing an in- 
scription, of which the following is a translation: 

‘* Here rests the most magnificent Sefior Don Fernando Colon, 
who applied and spent all his life and estate in adding to letters, and 
collecting and perpetuating in his city all his books, of all the sciences 
which he found in his time, and reducing them to four books. He 
died in this city, on the r2th’of July, 1539, at the age of fifty 
years, nine months, and fourteen days. He was son of the valiant 
and memorable Sefior Don Christopher Colon, the first admiral, who 
discovered the Indies and the New World, in the lifetime of Their 
Catholic Majesties, Don Ferdinand and Donna Isabella, of glorious 
memory, on the 11th of October, 1492, with three galleys and 
ninety people, having sailed from the port of Palos on his voyage of 
discovery, on the 3d of August previous, and returned to Castile 
with victory, on the 7th of March the following year. He returned 
afterward twice to people that which he had discovered. He died 
at Valladolid on the 2oth day of May, 1506, aged .... 

‘Entreat the Lord for them.” 

Beneath this, in a circle, is a globe, presenting the western and 
part of the eastern hemisphere, surmounted by a pair of compasses. 
Within the border of the circle is insoribed: 

‘‘A Castilla y 4 Leon. 
Mundo Nuevo did Colon.” 

In the Columbina Library, as it is called, at Seville, which for- 
merly belonged to Fernando Columbus, are a number of books 
which were carried by Christopher Columbus on his various voyages, 
and contain copious marginal notesin his handwriting. These books, 
in the order of their ages, are: 

First. A copy of the Historia Rerum Ubique Gestarum, by 
Enea Silvio Piccolomini, afterwards Pope Pius II. A small folio 
volume printed at Coloniain the year 1477. 


Second. The astronomical and cosmographical treatise of Car- 
dinal Pedro de Alliaco, entitled ‘‘Imago Mundi,” a gothic edition in 
folio, without date or imprint, but supposed to have been printed by 
Juan de Westphalia, at Lovaina, between the years 1480 and 1483. 

Third. The Works of Marco Polo, Latin edition of 1484. 

Fourth. ‘‘ Historia Naturale de C. Plinio Secondo Tradocta di 
Lingua Latinain Fiorentina per Christophoro Landino Fiorentino al 
Serenissimo Ferdinando Re di Napoli.” Published at Venice, Septem- 
ber 11, 1489. 

Fifth. ‘‘Alamach Perpetuus Cuius Radix est Annum 1473,” by 
Abraham Zacuth, astronomer to King Don Manuel of Portugal. 
Printed in Leiria in 1496. It was this very book that Columbus used 


116 FreELD CoLUMBIAN MUSEUM. 


to predict the eclipse of the moon which so terrified the Indians in 
Jamaica that they became obedient to him, and furnished his party 
food. On the marginsare calculations in his penmanship which were 
doubtless made to verify those of Zacuth. 

Sixth. ‘‘ Vidas de los Illustres Varones,” by Plutarch, translated 
into Spanish by Alfonso de Palencia,—two large folio volumes printed 
in Seville in 1491, by Paolo de Colonia. They contain frequent mar- _ 
ginal notes. 

Seventh. ‘‘Concordantize Bibliz Cardinalis S. P.” A manu- 
script of the fifteenth century, containing 112 parchment leaves. 

It is evident that Columbus consulted this manuscript frequently 
while preparing his ‘‘ Libro de los Proficias,” for on the margins are 
frequent cross references in his handwriting, various lines are un- 
derscored, and index fingers point to passages which were consid- 
ered by him of peculiar signficance. It is claimed by some that 
this Concordance was prepared by Columbus himself, but there is no 
evidence of that fact, and, if so, the existing copy was made by an 
amanuensis. The four volumes last named have been discovered 
only recently among the books of Don Fernando Columbus, by Doctor 
Simon de la Rosa y Lopez, the librarian of the Columbina Library, 
and are considered of the highest importance. 

The ‘‘ Libro de las Proficias” is a volume of manuscript containing 
seventy leaves of vellum, although there appear originally to have 
been eighty-four. Fourteen seem to have been cut out of the center. 
It was prepared in the year 1504-5, and was scarcely completed at the 
time of the death of Columbus, its object being to demonstrate that 
his discoveries were predicted by the Holy Scriptures. It is a collec- 
tion of various papers and memoranda, often incoherent, including a 
collection of texts from both the Old and New Testaments, that in his 
opinion refer to the existence of the lands he discovered, and their 
future conversion to Christianity. There are many marginal notes 
which would indicate that the manuscript is unfinished or at least that 
Columbus obtained additional material after completing it. 

The first leaf begins with the usual pious invocation that proceeds 
all of his manuscripts and the sign of the cross, This is followed by 
a letter addressed by him from Granada to his friend Father Corricio 
at the Convent of Las Cuevas, on the 13th of September, 1501, con- 
cerning references by sacred and profane writers to the regions he had 
discovered, and also to the probability of the recovery of the Holy 
Land from the infidels. The answer of the monk, dated at the Mon- 
astery of Las Cuevason the 23rd of March, 1502, is also inserted. 
Then follow various memoranda relating to the same subject, part of 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 117 


it in the handwriting of Columbus, but the greater portion having 
been written by several different amanuenses. The penmanship of 
his brother Bartholomew and his son Fernando are identified in sev- 
eral places. 

The signature or rubric of Columbus which appears at the close of 
all his communications, as the sign of the cross appears at the begin- 
ning, has never been satisfactorily interpreted. It was the custom in 
his time for men of importance to adopt sign manuals of a peculiar 
sort, as they adopted mottoes for their escutcheons, which had some 
apparent or concealed significance. The signs used by Columbus 

Ss. 
A. 2. 
MY 
Xpo. Ferens. 

are generally interpreted to mean ‘‘Servus Suplex Altissimi Salva- 
toris Christus Maria Vosef,” which in English reads, ‘‘ The humble 
servant of Christ, the Supreme Savior, Mary and Joseph, Christ- 
bearer.” Others render it in Spanish, ‘‘Servidor Sus Altezas, Secras 
Christo Maria, Ysabel,” which means, ‘‘I am the servant of their three 
Highnesses, the Sacred Christ, Mary and Isabella, Christ-bearer.” 
The last line was often written ‘‘ Christo Ferens,” and several signa- 
tures appear without it, and with ‘‘El Almirante,” (the Admiral) 
instead. These were written after his appointment as admiral in the 
Spanish navy. The most plausible rendering of the signs seems to be, 
‘‘Salvo Sanctum Supulcrum Xriste Maria Yesus Xristo Ferens.” 


The following translations, made by Sefior Doctor Jose Ignatio 
Rodrigues, Spanish Secretary of the Bureau of the American Repub- 
lics, include all of the manuscripts of Columbus existing; arranged in 
the order of the dates at which they are supposed to have been written: 


118 FieLp CoLuMBIAN MUSEUM. 


TRANSLATIONS. 


ile 


LETTER FROM CoLuMBuS TO FERDINAND AND ISABELLA CONCERNING 
THE COLONIZATION OF THE ISLAND OF HISPANIOLA. WRITTEN 
BETWEEN JULY 5TH AND SEPTEMBER 25TH, 1493, BEFORE START- 
ING ON HISSECOND VOYAGE. ORIGINAL IN THE ARCHIVES OF THE 
SPANISH GOVERNMENT. 

Most High and Powerful Sirs: 

In obedience to what Your Highnesses command me, I shall state 
what occurs to me for the peopling and settling of the Hispaniola 
Island and of all others, whether already discovered or hereafter to be 
discovered, submitting myself, however, to any better opinion. 

In the first place, and in regard to the Hispaniola Island, I should 
suggest the number of settlers who may be found willing to go there 
to be up to two thousand, so as to render the possession of the 
country safer, and cause it to be more profitable. This will aid also 
in facilitating intercourse and dealing with the neighboring islands. 

I suggest further three or four towns to be founded at convenient 
places, and the new settlers or colonists to be properly distributed 
among said towns. 

And in order to secure the better and prompter settlement of the 
said island, I should suggest furthermore that the privilege of getting 
gold be granted exclusively to those who have acquired a domicile, 
and built a dwelling-house in the town of their residence, so as to se- 
cure for them all to live close to each other and be better protected. 

And also that each town be given, as is customary in Castile, a 
mayor and a clerk. 

And furthermore, that a church be built, and that secular priests 
or friars be sent there for the administration of the sacraments, the 
conversion of the Jews, and the proper worshiping of the Divinity. 

And further, that no colonist be allowed to go and gather gold 
unless with a permit from the governor or mayor of the town in which 
he lives, to be given only upon his promising under oath to return to 
the place of his residence and faithfully report all the gold which he 
may have gathered, this to be done once a month, or once a week, as 
may be ordered of him, the said report to be entered on the proper 
registry by the clerk of the town in the presence of the mayor, 
and if so deemed advisable, in the presence of a friar, or secular - 
priest, selected for the purpose. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 11g 


And further, that all the gold so gathered be melted right 
away, and weighed and stamped subsequently with such a mark 
or seal as the town may have devised and selected; and that the share 
of that gold which belongs to Your Highnesses be given and delivered 
to the mayor of the town, the proper record thereof being made by 
the clerk, and by the secular priest or friar who may witness to it, so 
as to cause the transaction to be known by more than one person, and 
render the concealing of the truth impossible. 

Furthermore, that all the gold which may be found without the 
mark or seal aforesaid in the possession of anyone who formerly had 
reported once as aforesaid, be forfeited and divided by halves, one for 
the informer and the other for Your Highnesses. 

And further, that one per cent. of all the gold gathered be set 
apart and appropriated for building churches, and providing for their 
proper furnishing and ornamentation, and to the support of the secular 
priests or friars having them in their charge, and, if sodeemed advis- 
able, for the payment vf some compensation to the mayors and clerks 
of the respective towns, so as to cause them to fulfill their duties 
faithfully; and that the balance be delivered to the governor and 
treasurer sent there by Your Highnesses. 

And further, and in regard to the division of the gold and the 
setting apart the share which belongs to Your Highnesses, I am of the 
opinion that the operation must be entrusted to the said governor and 
treasurer, because the amount of the gold found may sometimes be 
large and sometimes small, and if sodeemed advisable, that the share 
of Your Highnesses be established for one year to be one-half, the 
other half going to the gatherers, reserving for a future time to make 
some other and better provision if necessary. 

And further, that if the mayors and clerks commit any fraud in 
these matters, or consent to it, the proper punishment be inflicted 
upon them, and that a penalty be likewise imposed upon those colon- 
ists who do not report in full the whole amount of the gold which is 
in their possession. 

And further, that a treasurer be appointed and sent to the said 
island, who shall receive all the gold belonging to Your Highnesses, 
and shall have a clerk to make and keep the proper record of the re- 
ceipts, and that the mayors and clerks of the respective towns be given 
proper vouchers for everything which they may deliver to the said 
treasurer. 

And further, that whereas the extreme anxiety of the colonists to 
gather gold may induce them to neglect all other business and occu- 
pations, it seems to me that prohibition should be made to them to en- 
gage in the search of gold during some season of the year, so as to 
give all other business, profitable to the island, an opportunity to be 
established and carried on. 

And further, that as far as the business of discovering other lands 
is concerned, it is my opinion that permission to do so should be given 
to every one who desires to embark in it, and that some liberality 
should be shown in reducing the fifth to be given as tribute, so as to 
encourage as many as possible for entering into such undertakings. 


120 FieLtp CoLtumBiAN MUSEUM. 


And now I shall set forth my opinion as to the manner of sending 
vessels to the Hispaniola Island, and the regulation of this subject 
which must be made, which is as follows: That no vessels should be 
allowed to unload their cargoes except at one or two ports designated 
for that purpose, and that a record should be made of all that they 
carry and unload; and that no vessels should be allowed either to 
leave the island except from the same ports, after a record has been 
made also of all that they have taken on board, so that nothing can 
be concealed. 

And further, and in regard to the gold to be brought from the 
Island to Castile, that the whole of it, whether belonging to Your 
Highnesses or to some private individual, must be put in a safe, with 
two keys,—one to be kept by the master of the vessel, and the other 
by some person chosen by the governor and the treasurer, and that 
an official record be made of everything put in the said safe, in 
order that each one may have what is his, and that whatever gold, 
much or little, found there, in excess of what the record shows, be 
forfeited. to the benefit of Your Highnesses, so as to cause the trans- 
actions to be made faithfully. 

And further, that all vessels coming from the said island must 
come to unload to the Port of Cadiz, and that no person shall be al- 
lowed to leave the vessels, or get in them, until such person or per- 
sons of the said city as may be appointed for this purpose by Your 
Highnesses have boarded the same vessels, and received information 
from the masters of all that they have brought, and the official state- 
ment of the nature and value of the cargoes, so as to facilitate a 
thorough examination and find out whether anything has been 
brought hidden and not declared in the manifests at the time of 
shipment. 

And further, that the said safe where the gold belonging to all 
may be placed and brought to Cadiz must be opened in the presence 
of the judicial authority of the said city, and of an officer appointed 
for that purpose by Your Highnesses, and that thereupon each one 
must be given what belongs to him. 

May Your Highnesses keep me in their minds, while I, on my 
part, shall ever pray to God our Lord to preserve the lives of Your 
Highnesses and enlarge their dominions. 

S. 
So Asses 
x, Dib Me 
Xpo Ferens. 


Sent by the Admiral. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 121 


ja 


LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO FERDINAND AND ISABELLA CONCERNING 
SUPPLIES FOR AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE INDIES. WITHOUT 
DATE, BUT PROBABLY WRITTEN BEFORE SECOND VOYAGE. ORIG- 
INAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF VERAGUA, MapbrID. 


oF. 


Your Highnesses ordered a statement to be made of all the things 
required for provisioning the Indies, and according to my opinion 
what is needed is as follows: 

First of all six ships, which shall carry four or five hundred men, 
which in my judgment are necessary to conquer the Hispaniola 
Island. There are already in the said Island four vessels, two of 
which belong to Your Highnesses, while the two others are owned by 
halves, one named La Nifia, by Your Highnesses and myself, and 
the other, named La Vaquenos, by Your Highnesses and a widow 
residing at Palos. The two vessels which are therefore required to 
complete the total of six must be of one hundred and twenty tons 
burden, each, so as to supply the deficiency of the four others, which 
are small. And to purchase said vessels will prove cheaper than to 
charter them; and the sailors must be engaged for certain fixed 
wages, and not otherwise, so as to secure better and cheaper service. 

And for the fitting out and provisioning the vessels, and provid- 
ing for the support of the people on board, things must be done in 
this way, namely: One-third of the provisions must be hard tack, 
of good quality and well seasoned, and not old, because otherwise 
most of it will be lost. Another third must be salted flour, the salt 
to be mixed with the flour at the time it is milled. The other third 
must be wheat. But it is necessary to put also on board a provision 
of wine, and bacon, and sweet oil, and vinegar, and cheese, and peas, 
and lentils, and beans, and salted fish, and honey, and almonds and 
raisins, and also some fishing nets and hoops. 

Pitch and oakum, and nails, and tallow, and iron, and hardware 
are things which are also required for the proper repair of the ships; 
and among the people on board the said ships there must be some 
who are calkers, and some who are carpenters, and coopers, and saw- 
yers, and blacksmiths, and it will be cheaper to carry saws. 

And it will be good for the ships sent there to carry sheep, and 
cows and goats, especially if they are young, said animals to be got 
at the Canary Islands, because those islands are nearer and the price 
will be cheaper there than elsewhere. 


122 Fietp CoLumMBiaAn Museum. 


And it will be advisable to put on board some linen goods and 
broad-cloths for clothing purposes, and some shoes, and cotton, and 
needles, and bunting, and canvas and caps, and saddles and harness 
for the horses, and also spurs. 

And furthermore it is necessary for the ships going to the islands, 
as well as for the people residing there, to be provided with Lombardy 
guns for the ships themselves, and with lances and swords, and dag- 
gers and crossbows and their appurtenances, and ammunition for the 
men. 

And in reference to all those things which are required for the 
medical treatment of the sick Father Fray Juan will give Your High- 
nesses full information. 

If the things above mentioned are to be given by lots, or rations, 
it will be necessary to entrust the distribution thereof to some person 
of good conscience; willing to give each one what is his, and incap- 
able of depriving any one of what belongs to him. And if it is 
decided that the said things will not be distributed by lots or rations, 
then it will be necessary to give the people some part of their wages 
in money so as to enable them to purchase the said articles. 

And then it will be likewise necessary to have there some one of 
good conscience, who will do justice to all, and give each one a fair 
treatment, because if those who are now in authority continue to exer- 
cise their power the inhabitants, Christians as well as Indians, will 
leave the country, for the treatment received by the former as well 
as by the latter is more in conformity with the dictates of cruelty than 
with the principles of reason and justice. And, asmany of those who 
are there may be willing to domicile themselves in the island, it will 
be advisable for the one exercising authority in these matters to be 
provided with full powers to enter into arrangements, or to allow 
engagements to be released, as may be required. 

Ss. 
5, Asse 
x ME NS 
Xpo Ferens. 


AuTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 123 


Ft. 


LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. DATED 
GRANADA, FEBRUARY 6TH, 1502. ORIGINAL IN THE ARCHIVES 
OF THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT. 


Ff 


Most High and Powerful Queen and King, my Lady and my Lord: 

I wish I could give Your Highnesses pleasure and contentment, 
instead of burdening and annoying your minds. But as I know how 
great is the interest which Your Highnesses feel for all new things 
having some importance, I shall in obedience to your command set 
forth at this moment all that may come to my memory in regard to 
this subject, hoping that Your Highnesses will pardon the lack of 
ornament in my statements, and look only to my good intention. I 
am bold enough to say that as far as the good service of Your High- 
nesses is concerned Iam not in need of learning from any one what 
I myself know well how to do; and if on any occasion it should hap- 
pen for me to lose my strength, or to be overcome by fatigue, the 
will to serve Your Highnesses as your most dutiful servant will not 
nevertheless leave me for an instant. 

Sailors and other people who are conversant with the sea have 
always a better knowledge than all others of the parts of the world 
which they visit more frequently, or with which they do business 
oftener. Every one knows best what he sees every day, and what 
has happened lately is better known than what took place years ago. 
Hence it is that we hail with delight whatever is said to us by those 
who were eye witnesses to the facts, and that no teaching proves to 
be for us more thorough and complete than that which comes to us 
through our own experience or observation. 

Whether we admit that the shape of the world is spherical, as 
many writers affirm it to be, or bow to the decision of science if its 
conclusion is different, the fact of the diversity of climate within the 
same zone must remain undisturbed. Thatdiversity will be observed 
on land as well as on the sea. 

The sun exercises its influence on the earth, and the earth 
receives it in greater or lesser degree, according to the character of 
its surface, whether mountainous or depressed. The ancients were 
well acquainted with this fact and wrote a good deal about it. Pliny 
went so far as to say that at the region of the north pole, exactly at 
the same zone, the temperature is so mild that the people who inhabit 
the spot never die, unless they themselves, getting tired of living, 
put an end to their existence. 

Here in Spain this diversity of temperature in the same zone is 
so perceptible that no testimony of ancient writers, or others, is 
required to prove it. Here in Granada we see the mountains capped 
with snow, which is a sign of great cold, during the whole year, and 


124 FieLD CoLuMBIAN Museum. 


at the foot of these very mountains there are Alpujarras, where the 
temperature is delightful, neither too warm nor too cold. “And what 
happens in this respect in this province happens also in many others 
of Spain, which it would be prolix to enumerate. 

I say that on the sea the same things can be observed, especially 
in the proximity of the land; and this is known much better by those 
who frequent those waters than by the ones who travel elsewhere at 
a greater distance. 

In Andalucia, it is taken for granted, during the summer, that 
each day, as soon as the sun has reached a certain height, a mild and 
soft breeze from the west, which they call ‘‘virazon,” will commence 
to blow, and last until the evening. And what this ‘‘virazon” does 
for this region, other breezes of analogous character do for other 
regions sometimes in summer, sometimes in winter. 

Those who frequently travel from Cadiz to Naples know well, 
according to the season, the kind of winds they will find when pass- 
ing along the coast of Catalonia, or when entering the Gulf of 
Narbona,. Travelers from Cadiz to Naples, if they make the trip 
during the winter, pass generally in sight of Cape Creo in Catalonia, 
and then through the gulf of Narbona; they will find there strong . 
winds which they will do well to obey. These winds will push them 
to Berneria; and it is for this reason that the navigators goas neara: 
they can to Cape Creo, so as to have as fully as possible the benefit of 
these winds, and promptly reach the Pomegas of Marseilles, or the 
Eres Island. From here they continue, always in sight of land, to 
whatever place they desire. If the trip from Cadiz to Naples is to 
be made in summer, it is made along the coast of Berneria up to 
Sardinia, and from there it will continue in the same way as before 
described. The men who are engaged in this navigation, and have 
made many trips, are well acquainted with these routes, and know 
what kind of weather they will meet, according to the season. In 
common parlance we call these men ‘‘pilots,” which means ‘‘lead- 
ers,” or ‘‘guides.” But aman who is a very good guide, and knows 
well how to go from here to Fuentorrabia may be a bad guide and 
know nothing about the way to go from here tc Lisbon. And the same 
thing happens on the sea, there being pilots who are excellent for the 
waters of Flanders, and others for those of the East, each one well 
fitted for the locality to which he is accustomed. 

There is great intercourse between Spain and Flanders, and there 
are great sailors engaged in that navigation. In Flanders, in Janu- 
ary, all the ships are ready to go back to their own countries, as it is 
rare that a wind from the northeast, which they must avoid, does not 
make its appearance soon after This wind which at this season is 
cold, and blows wildly, is often dangerous. It is due to the distance 
of the sun and to the quality of the land atthat place. Fortunately, 
it does not blow regularly, or permanently, and allows some oppor- 
tunity to escape it. But the navigator who trusts himself to the sea 
under such winds does so at a great risk, and often owes his safety only 
to being able, through somechange in the direction of the wind to enter 
some French or English port, and wait there until the weather changes 


AUTHENTIC LeTrers oF COLUMBUS, 125 


Sailors are people who are fond of making money and of return- 
ing home, and under the spur of these two feelings are apt to venture 
all and not wait for the good weather, unlessreluctantly. I, myself, 
as I have said to Your Highnesses on another occasion, once made 
this voyage, being forced to keep my bed on account of sickness, and 
when the sun had already left Taurus, and we were in the midst of a 
severe and dangerous winter. If the winds are favorable the dis- 
tance is traveled quickly; but no one must start without being sure 
of the weather, and this assurance can be obtained by observing the 
sky, and finding out that this is very clear and that the wind comes 
from the side of the northern star, and blows for some days always 
in the same direction. 

Your Highnesses know well what happened in the year 1497, 
while Your Highnesses were at Burgos, and the people were kept in 
such a state of anxiety on account of the severe storms which raged 
there continually one after another. The weather was so annoying 
that Your Highnesses decided to leave Burgos and go to Loria. In 
pursuance of this plan the whole court moved for the latter city on 
the appointed day, which was a Saturday, it being the intention of 
Your Highnesses to follow on the next Monday. But thatvery night 
Your Highnesses received a letter of mine in which I said: The 
wind began to blow on such and such a day, the fleet cannot have set 
sail that day, but must have waited until the weather settles, which 
probably has been on Wednesday. If the fleet started then, it will 
reach the Island of Huict on Thursday or Friday, and if it does not 
stop there it will enter Laredo next Monday, or all the sailors’ calcula- 
tions will prove to be false. This letter of mine, coupled with the 
desire of Your Highnesses to see the Princess sooner, caused Your 
Highnesses to abandon the idea of going to Loria, and put to test the 
opinion of the sailor. On Monday, indeed, one of the vessels which 
had refused to stop at Huict, because of the scarcity of her provis- 
ions, entered the port of Laredo. 

Many predictions of this kind can be made, and in fact have 
always been made both on land and on the sea. They certainly will 
be repeated now, among the many who will navigate between here 
and the newly discovered islands. The route is known; ‘but if the 
instruments as well as the rigging and equipment of the vessels are 
improved, those who will engage in this business will know moret han 
all others about those lands, and the winds and the times which are 
more suitable for their purposes, and for the safety of their persons. 

May the Holy Trinity preserve Your Highnesses, as I wish and 
we all need, with all your great statesand dominions. 

Granada, February 6th, 1502. S. 

oie shies 
oo tsk x. Vee: 
RES Ch Daa ERLE ti Xpo Ferens. 
Endorsement upon enclosure of No. II. 
Memorial of the Admiral to Their Highnesses, 
He came to Valladolid in the year of ———_-———_ 


Facsimile of letter to Nicolo Oderigo, March arst, 1502. 


os 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 127 


BY: 


LETTER FROM CoLuMBus TO NicoLto Operico. DartTep SEVILLE, 
MARCH 21ST, 1502. ORIGINAL IN THE MUNICIPAL PALACE, GENOA. 


ci 
Sir: 


The loneliness in which you have Jeft us cannot be described. I 
gave Francisco de Ribarol the book containing my deeds and other 
written documents in order that he may send it to you with another 
copy of the letters. I ask you as a favor to inform Don Diego of your 
action on this matter. A duplicate of everything will be made and 
sent to you, in the same way and by the same Francisco. You will 
see that in these papers there is a new deed. Their Highnesses have 
promised me, as you will see, to give me all that belongs to me, and 
to give possession of all to Don Diego. I have written to Juan Luis 
and Sra. Madona Catalina. My letter to them goes together with the 
present one. Iam ready to sail, with the favor of the Holy Trinity, 
as soon as the weather permits it. I am well provided of everything. 
If Jeronimo Santiesteban is coming, he must wait for me, and not 
embarrass himself with anything. Otherwise they will take from him 
all that they can and leave him thereafter in the cold. Let him come 
here, and the King and the Queen will receive him and attend to him 
until I come. 

Our Lord may keep you in His holy guard. Dated this 2rst 
day of March, at Seville, 1502. 

Command me. 

Ss. 
a. A. 8: 
>a! ee 
Xpo Ferens. 


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nh Bm qe Sorel mh G oem / ras Vo ta 
Novae nelle ylork gui 36 muy magnifies oficn wolfe : 


Facsimile of letter to the Governors of the Bank of St. George, at Genoa, April 2nd, 1502. 


AvuTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 129 


N: 


LETTER FROM CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS TO THE GOVERNORS OF THE 
Bank oF St. GeorGE, GENOA. DaTED aT SEVILLE, APRIL 2ND, 


1502. 
Most Noble Lords: 

Although my body is here my heart is always near you. Our 
Lord has bestowed on me the greatest favor which He has ever 
granted any one except David. The results of my undertaking are 
already being seen, and would shine considerably if the darkness of 
the government did not conceal them. I shall go again to the 
- Indies in the name of the Holy Trinity, and shall soon return. But 
as I am a mortal, I have ordered my son Don Diego to give you every 
year, forever, the tenth of all the revenue obtained,in payment of the 
tax on wheat, wine and other provisions. If this tenth amounts to any- 
thing please take it. Ifnot, take my will for my deed. I ask you asa 
favor to attend to my said son Don Diego. Nicolas de Oderigo 
knows all about my letters of concessions and privileges, and I have 
asked him to take good care of them. I wish you would see them. 
The King and the Queen, my sovereigns, wish to honor me now more 
than ever. 

The Holy Trinity may keep your noble persons in its guard, 
and increase the importance of your magnificent office. Dated at 
Seville, this 2nd of April, 1502. 

The Great Admiral of the Ocean Sea, and Viceroy and Governor 
of the Islands and Mainland of Asia and the Indies belonging to the 
King and Queen, my sovereigns, their Captain General of the Sea, 
and a member of their Council. 


S. 
oi 5 hs 
ANE ays 
Xpo Ferens. 


Facsimile of letter to Father Gaspar de Las Cuevas, April 4th, 1502. 


S 
i 

; 
sa 


AUTHENTIC L&TTERS OF COLUMBUS, 13! 


VI. 


LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO FaTHER D. Gaspar aT San Lucar, 
DaTEpD APRIL 4TH, 1502. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE 
DuKE oF VERAGUA, MaprID. 


oF 


Reverend and Most Pious Father: 

If the anxiety to hear from you troubles me in the places where I 
am going as much asit does here, I shall feel very badly. The equip- 
ments sent to me have been in such a large quantity that I have been 
compelled to leave a part. Everything will be done afterwards more 
at leisure. The Adelantado has already left with the ships to clean 
the bottom thereof at Puebla vieja. I shall sail in the name of the Holy 
Trinity Wednesday morning. Your Reverence will see Don Diego 
on his return, and will instruct him well in regard to a memorial of 
mine which I have left with him, and of which I should like Your 
Reverence to have a copy. Some one will go there for my little trunk 
in order to see some deeds, and the letter sent by me for that purpose 
I shall write it myself. Don Diego will take it to you with my re- 
gards. I commend myself to the pious members of your religious 
house, especially to the Reverend Father Prior, whose always willing 
servant lam. Dated April 4th. 

_ All that Your Reverence may command will be done by 


Ss. 
S. As 9. 
x MN, 
Xpo Ferens. 


Facsimile of letter to Father Gaspar de Las Cuevas, September 4th, 1502. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF CoLUMbUS. 132 


EL: 


LETTER FROM CoLuMBUS TO FaTHER D. Gaspar AT SEVILLE. May 
1502. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF VERAGUA, 


Maprip. 
ac 


Reverend and Most Pious Father: 

The wind from the east detained me in Cadiz (calis) until the day 
in which the Moors besieged Arzila, and I took advantage of that wind 
to go to the assistance of the besieged, and I was the first to do so. 
Subsequently to that Our Lord gave me such a good weather that I 
arrived here in four days. Now I am going to continue my voyage in 
the name of the Holy Trinity, and expect to succeed. I pray Your 
Reverence to remember to write often to Don Diego, and to remind 
Francisco de Rivarol of the business of Rome. I do not write to him, 
because I have no time. I commend myself to the Father Superior 
and to all the pious members of your religious house. We all here 
are well, thanks to Our Lord. Dated at Gran Canaria, on of May. 

What Your Reverence may command will be done by 


S. 
Se. Se 
ae MY. 
Xpo Ferens. 


Notre.—While the day of the montn is erased in the original, the letter must 
have been written between the 20th and the 25th. 


‘€oSx ‘y3Z Ajnf ‘seaand se] ap Jedsery 1ayyey 0} 19}}9] JO a[IUlIsoey 


. . aA, - ” ge dae 2 *) A. ‘eyt Way? 
GOL7 Sh Jf a eens) wy 77 14 ys, ¥ 


7 vf 


’ 


Rt ae 
‘ wa ines 3 


ewe we 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 135 


VIII. 


LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO FATHER D. Gaspar. DaTED JAMAICA, 
JuLy 7TH, 1503. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF 
VERAGUA, MapDRID. 


Reverend and Most Pious Father: 

If my voyage would prove as conducive to my personal health 
and to the welfare of my house as it promises of aggrandizement for 
the Royal Crown of the King and Queen, my masters, I might hope 
to live more than one hundred years. I have no time to write now 
more at length. I expect that the bearer of the present letter will be 
some one of my house who will give you verbally more information 
than can be given in a thousand letters. Don Diego will also supply 
it. Task as a favor of the Father Superior and of all the members of 
your religious house to remember me in their prayers. Dated at the 
island of Jamayca (Janahica) on the 7th of July, 1503. 

All that your Reverence may command will be done. 

S. 
Duis, ee 
Xe MY. 

Xpo Ferens. 


Facsimile of three letters to Francisco de Morrillo, Treasurer of the Crown, 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 137 


IX. 


LETTERS FROM CoLuMBUS TO FRANCISCO DE MoORILLO, PROBABLY 
TREASURER OF THE CROWN. ORIGINALS IN THE COLLECTION OF 
THE DuKE OF BERWICK-ALBA, MADRID. 


Francisco de Morillo: 

Give Diego Rodriguez, the master of the vessel, as he is called, 
as many gold dollars as are equivalent to sixteen thousand maravedis 
in payment of forty hundred weight of hard tack which he sold to me 
for the crew, at the rate of 400 maravedis the hundred weight. Give 
him furthermore, eight ducats in payment of two ‘‘alnnas,” which I 
bought from him for the sails. Give also the said Diego Rodriguez 
eighty gold dollars which I must pay him for his fare and that of the 
twenty-five persons who will go with him from here to Castile. Give 
him all of this and make him receipt for it on the back of this letter. 

Dated to-day, Friday, the 7th of September, 1504. 

Xpo Ferens. 


X. 


Francisco Morillo: 

Give Rodrigo Viscayno fifty-six reales, in payment of eight 
‘“‘botas” (small wine skins), bought for the caravel at the rate of 
seven reales each. This makes three dollars and a half. 

Give also Francisco Nino forty-two rea/es, in payment of four 
“‘botas” and three ‘‘fexes de aras y bimbres.” This makes in all 
ninety-eight reales, 

Dated on board the ship of Diego Rodriguez on the 8th of Sep- 
tember, 1504. 

Two dollars and a half and one ¢omzn., 

Xpo Ferens. 


XI, 


Francisco Morillo: 

Give Diego de Salcedo fifteen gold dollars in payment of fifteen 
loads of bread which he took at the port in Brazil, when we were 
coming from Jamaica, to feed the people on board the ship of which 
he was the master. 7 

Dated September gth, 1504. 

Xpo Ferens. 


138 FIELD CoLUMBIAN MUSEUM. 


XII. 


LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO DIEGO, HIS SON. WRritTTEN AT SEVILLE 
ON THE 21ST OF NOVEMBER (PROBABLY) 1504. ORIGINAL IN THE 
COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF VERAGUA, Maprip. 


My Dearest Son: 

I received your letter which came by the post. You did well in 
remaining there, and attempting to remedy certain things and seeing 
already about your business. My Lord the Bishop of Palencia has 
always favored me, and wished for my being honored, ever since I 
came to Castile. Now is the time to request him to be pleased to 
look into the many wrongs which have been done to me and to cause 
my agreement with Their Highnesses and the letters of concession 
which Their Highnesses granted to me, to be ordered to be complied 
with, trying also to secure that a proper indemnification for so many 
injuries be paid to me. He must rest assured that if Their 
Highnesses do so their dominions and greatness will be increased 
in an incredible degree. He must not think forty thousand gold 
dollars too much, as a much greater sum might have been 
obtained, if Satan had not interfered to prevent my plans from 
being carried out, because when I was brought from the Indies the 
labors in which I was already engaged promised to give an amount 
of gold superior beyond comparison to forty thousand dollars. Ican 
state upon oath, and this I say to you alone, that the injury done to 
me in the matter of the concessions which Their Highnesses granted me 
amounts to ten millions per year, which never will be recovered. 
Now imagine what will be the injury done to Their Highnesses 
themselves for the share in said concessions which belongs to them. 
But they do not feel it. I write as one who is at their mercy, and 
shall make an effort to leave for there. My safe arrival and all the 
rest is in the hands of Our Lord. His mercy is infinite. Saint 
Augustine says that what is being done, or is about to be done, is a 
thing already done before the creation of the world. I have also 
written to those other gentlemen named in the letter of Diego Men- 
dez. Commend me to their mercy and inform them of my intended 
voyage there, as I said before. Indeed I am afraid of being unable 
to reach my destination, and be left on the roadside, on account of 
the cold weather, which is unfavorable in such a great degree to this 
illness of mine. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 139 


I was very much pleased with your letter and with what the King 
Our Lord said, and for which I suppose you kissed his royal hands. 
It is true that I have served their Highnesses with as much, or 
greater, diligence and love as I might have displayed in trying to 
gain paradise. If I failed to do something it was only due either 
upon the impossibility of the thing itself, or upon its being entirely 
beyond my knowledge and my power. God, Our Lord, requires in 
such cases only the will. 


At the request of Treasurer Morales I made there two appoint- 
ments in favor of two brothersnamed Porres. JI made one of them 
a Captain and the other an Auditor. Neither of them had ability to 
fill his position; but I, in the desire to provide those places, and 
through love to the person who recommended them, made -the 
appointments. Both men soon turned vainer than they had ever 
been. I overlooked more acts of theirs’ than I had done for my rel- 
atives, and they were such as to deserve graver punishment than a 
simple verbal reprimand. They went to such an extreme as not to 
allow me, even if I had been willing, to change the decision which I 
reached. The record of the case will prove what I say. They 
revolted in the island of Jamaica, and I was as astonished by their 
actions as I had been by seeing the light of the sun turned into 
darkness. I was then almost at the point of death, and they made 
me suffer cruelly, without any cause. for it, for no less than five 
months. At last I made them all prisoners, but afterwards I set 
them all, except the Captain, at liberty. I desired to bring the Cap- 
tain as a prisoner before Their Highnesses. A petition, made upon 
oath, which was addressed to me and which I forward to you with 
this letter, will give you full information about this affair, although 
the record of the case will better explain the whole thing. That 
record and the clerk who attended it are coming in a vessel whose. 
arrival I am expecting from day to day. The said prisoner. was kept' 
and retained in Santo Domingo by the Governor. His punctilious- 
ness compelled him to do so, There was a provision in my intro- 
duction by which all were commanded to obey my orders, and. full 
jurisdiction was granted me in civil and criminal cases concerning all 
those who had come with me. But this provision was of no avail 
with the Governor, because he said that it was not meant for his 
district, and was not applicable to it. Afterwards he sent him here 
without record or anything in writing to the Lords who have charge 
of all the business of the Indies; but they did not receive him and 
both brothers are free. I will not wonder if Our Lord. punishes 
some one for this. They went there as unprincipled and shameless 
as ever. Such an act of jealousy and treason as this was never heard 
of before. I wrote to Their Highnesses about this matter and I said 
to them that it was not right for them to consent to such a slight to 
me. I also wrote to the Treasurer and asked him, as a favor, not to 
pass his sentence upon words which they might say to him without 
giving mea hearing. Now it will be right for you to remind him of 
my request. Ido not know how they will dare to go before him with 
such a scheme. I have written to him again, and enclosed a copy of 


Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, Noveinber 21st, 1504. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. : 141 


the sworn statement, which I send to you, and also to Doctor Angulo, 
and Licenciate Zapata. I commend myself to the mercy of them all, 
and give them notice that in a short time I shall leave for there. 

I would be happy to see a letter of Their Highnesses and know 
through it what they command me todo. You must try, if you have 
an opportunity, to get sucha letter for me. Present my compliments 
to the Bishop, and also to Juan Lopez, and remind them of my ill- 
ness and of the reward due for my services. 

You must read the other letters that go with the present, so as 
to be able to act in conformity with what they say. 

Tell Diego Mendez that I am obliged to him for hisletter. I do 
not write to him, because he will know through you all that has 
passed, and because my illness precludes me from doing it. At this 
time it would be well for Carbajal and Jeronimo to be in the Court, 
and speak of our business with those Lords and with the Secretary. 

Dated at Seville, on the 21st of November. 

Your father who loves you more than himself. 


S. 
wn 
eM Ni. 


Xpo Ferens. 


I wrote to Their Highnesses requesting them to cause the people 
who went with me to be paid. They are poor and have been. for 
three years away from their homes. The information that has 
reached them is more than extraordinary, They have run a great 
many dangers and experienced a great many difficulties. I did not 
want to plunder the country in order not to give scandal. Reason 
advises that an effort be made to bring population to the country, and 
then all the gold desired will be got without scandal. Speak of this 
to the Secretary and to the Bishop, and to Juan Lopez, and to whom- 
ever you may think to be advisable. 


ae TPE pie” 
Sn Mf oe cena ie ao pty 


4 pr bel RE: ey Z ae ob ek yee Pe 


, 


. 
° 
i 
4 
Ay 
pages 
cleee 
3 
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£ gs 
a 
os 
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168 


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Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, November 2gth, 1504 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 143 


XIII. 


LETTER FROM CoLuMBUS TO DIEGO, HiSSON. WRITTEN FROM SEVILLE, 
NOVEMIER 29TH, 1504. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE 
Duke or VERAGUA, MaAprID. 


My dearest son: 

I received your letter of the 15th instant. I wrote to you eight 
days ago, and I sent the letter by a messenger. I enclosed in my 
letter some others addressed to other persons, which I did not seal in 
order that you could read them and subsequently have them sealed 
and delivered. Although this illness of mine gives me much 
trouble, still Iam getting ready to start on my voyage there. I am 
very anxious to have an answer from Their Highnesses, and I wish 
you would try to get it. I wish also Their Highnesses would pro- 
vide for the payment of those poor people who have gone through 
such incredible ordeals and have rendered them so great services, 
for which they must give infinite thanks to God, Our Lord, and 
greatly rejoice. If I .... the Paralipomenon, the Book of Kings, 
the Antiquities of Josephus, and other books will say what they know 
about it—I expect, trusting in Our Lord, to leave here next week, 
and for this reason it will be better for you not to write so often. I 
have not heard from Carbajal or Jerome. If they are there give 
them my regards. Times are such as to require both Carbajals to be 
in the Court, unless prevented by illness. Give my regards to Diego 
Mendez. I think that his true statements and his activity will out- 
weigh the lies of the Porres. The bearer of this letter is Martin de 
Gamboa, who also carries a letter to Juan Lopez and a letter of 
credit. Read the letters to Lopez and then return it to the bearer. 
If you write to me, send the letter to Luis de Soria, who will make 
them ‘reach me wherever I may be. I believe that if I go I shall be 
carried on astretcher, on account of my illness. May Our Lord keep 
youin his holy guard. Your uncle has been very sick, and is still 
suffering a good deal with toothache and some trouble in the 
jaws. 

Dated at Seville, this 29th of November. 

Your father who loves you more than himself. 


S. 
ope eaae 
Se MEY. 


Xpo Ferens 


*boSr ‘ist Iaquieoaq ‘snquin[od o8a1q Wo Oo} 1a}a] JO UONIOd Jo ajimtsoRy 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS 145 


XIV. 


LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO HIS SON DieGO. WRITTEN AT SEVILLE 
ON THE IST DAY OF DECEMBER, 1504, ORIGINAL IN THE COLLEC- 
TION OF THE DUKE OF VERAGUA, MADbRID 


My dearest son: 

Subsequent to your letter of the 15th of November, I have heard 
nothing from you. I wish you would write to me very often. I 
should like to see a letter from you every hour. Reason must tell 
you that now I could not have a better relief. Many are the mes- 
sengers that reach here every day, and the information they bring 
is such as to make my hair stand onend, seeing how things are going 
so much against my wishes. May the Holy Trinity be pleased to give 
health to the Queen, Our Lady, that she may settle and affirm what 
has been built. Last Thursday I wrote to you by a messenger, 
who, Isuppose, is now on his way back to this place. I told youin that 
letter that my departure from here was a sure thing, but that my safe 
arrival there was, on the contrary, and judging from experience, ex- 
tremely uncertain. The ailment which afflicts me is so bad, and the 
cold weather aggravates it so much, that it is very possible for me 
to be left on the road in some of the inns. The stretchers and all 
other things were ready. But the weather became so formidable . 
that nobody could think of traveling, and all said that it was better 
for a person so well known as I am to attend to my health and not to 
run such great risks. I told you also in that letter, as I now say 
again, that it was a good thing’ for you to stay where you are, 
specially at this time, and that it was advisable for us to begin to 
look into our affairs. Reason advises us todo so, It seems to me 
that a good copy must be made of that chapter of the letter which 
Their Highnesses wrote to me, in which they promise to fullfill their 
engagements with me and give possession of everything to you,.... 
and that said copy must be delivered to Their Highnesses, together 
with a statement in writing, explaining my sickness and the impossi- 
bility in which I am now to go and kiss their royal hands and feet, 
and saying also that the Indies are going to ruin, and are asif they 
were on fire one very side; that I have received nothing of the revenue 
which I should get from there; that no person dare make any de- 


146 Fretp Cotumpian Museum. 


mands in my favor, and that Iam living on the money that I can 
borrow. The money which I got there was spent in bringing back to 
their homes the people who had gone with me, for it would have been 
a grave sin for me to leave them there unprotected. Information of 
this step must be given to the Bishop of Palencia, in whom I trust so 
much, and also tohis chamberlain. I had thought that Carbajal and 
Jerome were still at your place. But our Lord is there and He will 
fix everything as He knows to be the best for us. 

Carbajal reached here yesterday. I wanted to send him back at 
once with this very instruction; but he asked to be excused, on the 
ground that his wife is at the point of death. I shall see that he goes as 
soon as possible, because he knows much about this business. I shall 
endeavor, also, to send your brother and your uncle to kiss the hands 
of Their Highnesses, and make a report of the voyage, if the one 
made in my letters is not sufficient. Take good care of your brother. 
He has a very good disposition, and is no longer a boy. If you had 
ten brothers their number would not be too large. I never found 
better friends, under all circumstances, than my brothers. 

We have to work first in fixing such matters as are relating to 
the government of the Indies, and subsequently in the straightening 
out the business of our revenue. I gave you a memorandum in 
which I stated all that belongs to me. What they awarded Carbajal 
is nothing and has returned into nothingness. Whoever wishes to 
take there any merchandise can take it, and therefore the eighth 
becomes nothing. I might send there any kind of merchandise and 
sell it without entering into accounts of association with any one, and 
not contributing the eighth. I clearly stated, from the beginning, 
that this grant of an eighth would end in nothing. It, however, 
belongs to me, the same as the third and the tenth, by virtue of the 
concession which Their Highnesses made in my favor. Out of the 
tenth I have got nothing, unless it is the tenth of what Their High- : 
nesses themselvesreceived. It must be, however, the tenth of all the 
gold and of everything found and obtained within the limits of my 
jurisdiction as Admiral, and of all the merchandise imported and 
exported into and from the said territory, after deducting the ex- 
penses. I have already explained that the reason of all this is set 
forth with clearness in the book of my privileges. 


An effort must be made to obtain from Their Highnesses an an- 
swer to my letter and an order directing the people to be paid. I 
wrote on this subject four days ago, and sent the letter by Martin de 
Gamboa. You must have seen the letter which I sent to Juan Lopez 
at the same time as yours. 

It is rumored here that the idea is entertained to create three or 
four bishoprics in the Indies, and the matter has been referred 
for study to the Bishop of Palencia. After presenting my compli- 
ments to that Bishop tell him that the service of Their Highnesses 
will be promoted if he wishes to confer with me on this subject be- 
fore taking final action. Give my regards to Diego Mendez, and 
show him this letter. My illness prevents me from writing except 
at night. In the daytime my hands have no strength. 


AvutHENtTIC Lerrers or CoLumBus., 147 


I think that a son of Francisco Pinelo will carry this letter. If 
so, receive him well, because he does for me with love and good will 
all that he can. 

The caravel whose mast was broken when leaving Santo Do- 
mingo has arrived in the Algarves. She brings the record of the in- 
vestigation in the Porres matter. So many ugly things and such a 
display of cruelty as will be shown there has never been seen. If 
Their Highnesses do not inflict proper punishment I do not know how 
any person will ever dare to go abroad and serve them, with people 
under his orders. 

Today is Monday. I shall try to make your uncle and your 
brother leave here to-morrow. Remember that you must write 
very often to me, and tell Diego Mendez to write me a_ long 
letter. There are messengers who leave here every day for your 
place. 

Our Lord may keep you in His holy guard. Done at Seville, 
December ist, 1504. 

Your father loves you as much as himself, 


Ss. 
SAS: 
MY. 


Xpo Ferens. 


recA gail Seetae haa 


* 
os 


oe .~f] Pre BF retin: 
: iy 
My Yt EE 


2 RE as Agee r? 
Ar{s me eT 
om: 


Aoyan f Le gerd 


ae ee 
yore Giw nee 
1 Ee oe te 


a 
eee 


‘dace ab 


Pee eee 


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3 


Facsimile of letter to Don Diego Columbus, December 3r 1 1504. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 149 


XV. 


LETTER FROM CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS TO HIS SON DiEGO. DatTep 
DECEMBER 3RD, 1504. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE 
DuKE OF VERAGUA, MADRID. 


My Dearest Son: 

I wrote to you a long letter the day before yesterday and I sent it 
by Francisco Pinelo. Now, together with this letter I send to youa 
very full memorandum. Iam astonished at not receiving any letter 
from you or the others, and this astonishment is shared by all those 
who are acquainted with me. Every one here has letters, but I, 
although more entitled than all to expect them, receive none. ‘This is 
a matter about which more care ought to be taken. The memoran- 
dum to which I have referred explains itself, and for this reason I do 
not enter here into any details. Your brother, your uncle and Car- 
bajal are going to join you, and through them you will learn what is 
not said here. 

May Our Lord keep you in His holy guard. 

Dated at Seville this 3rd of December, 1504. 

Your father who loves you more than himself, 

Ss. 
Dy ALD. 
a MEY. 
Xpo. Ferens, 


ead he heen 


eves, 


simile of memorandum written to Don Diego Columbus, December 3rd, 1504. 


Fac 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 151 


Dewi. 


MEMORANDUM BY CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ENCLOSED TO HIS SON 
DiEGO IN LETTER DatTepD DECEMBER 3RD, 1504. ORIGINAL IN 
THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF VERAGUA, MaAprID. 


1 


Memorandum for you, my dearest son Don Diego, of what at 
present occurs to me must be done. 

The principal thing is to commend to God, affectionately and with 
much devotion, the soul of the Queen, Our Lady. Her life was always 
catholic and holy, She was always ready for the things of God’s holy 
service. And for this it must be believed that she is in His holy 
-glory and beyond all desire relative to this rough and tiresome 
world. 

Secondly, an effort should be made thoroughly and in all things 
to serve well the King, Our Lord, and prevent him from being dis- 
pleased. His Highness is the head of all Christendom. Remember 
the proverb which says that when the head aches all the members 
ache also. Therefore all good Christians must pray for the preserva- 
tion of his health, and for his being granted a long life; and those 
who, like our selves, are bound to serve him more especially than 
others, must join the said prayers and do the said service with great 
care and diligence. 

Whereupon, I have decided to write to you this memorandum, in 
spite of the great sufferinys under which I[ am, in order that His 
Highness may be pleased to act as his own interest requires, and to 
make your efforts more efficient I have decided also to send your 
brother, who although a child in days is not a child in understanding, 
and also your uncle and Carbajal, so as to secure from you all to- 
gether if my written words are not sufficient, such verbal representa- 
tions as may be conducive to His Highness’ service. 

In my opinion there is nothing more in need of attention and 
remedy than the Indies. His Highness must have there at present 
more than 40,000 or 50,000 dollars in gold. I found out when I was 
there that the Governor had no desire to send that gold. It is believed 
among the people that an additional sum of 150,000 dollars must also 
be sent to His Highness. The mines continue to yield with steadi- 
ness and abundance. Most of the people there are extremely common 
and ignorant, who do not care much for anything. The Governor is 
unpopular with all of them, and it is to be feared that they may some 


_Proreers 9 fo 
- oi Jamra’ Ri ted 
pn a aks 


Nitto 


PA) 


«shoe tp baw, 


as 


: Bas Di ‘ 


. 


ers 


¥ 


Facsimile of continuation of memorandum, 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 153 


day do something wrong. If such a thing should happen, which God 
forbid, the remedy for the situation would be difficult. Neither would 
it be an easy thing to find redress for any trouble which might arise 
out of any injustice done either here or there, owing to the great 
fame of the gold. My opinion is that His Highness must attend to 
this at once, and entrust this business to a person who feels inter- 
est on the subject, and goes there with 150 or 200 persons, well 
prepared and equipped. That person must stay there until all matters 
are settled, and that cannot be done in less than three months. Pro- 
vision must be made also to raise there two other forces, because, on 
account of the few people whocan protect the gold kept there, it may 
easily disappear. There is a proverb which says that the eye of the 
owner makes the horse fat. Here and there and everywhere I shall 
serve with pleasure Their Highnesses as long as my soul remains 
united to my body. 

I said before that His Highness is the head of Christendom, and 
that it is necessary for him to provide for the preservation of these 
lands. Some people say that he cannot, in the way that things go, 
provide the Indies with a good government and cause the same to 
yield the profits which reasonably must be expected. In my opinion, 
his entrusting this matter to some one who feels an interest in pre- 
venting ill-treatment of his subjects would prove favorable to his 
service. 

I wrote to His Highness, as soon as J arrived here, and my letter 
which was very long, stated fully all the evils that require prompt 
and efficient remedy. I have received no answer, nor have I heard of 
any provision having been made on the subject. 

Some vessels are detained at San Lucar on account of the weather. 
I have told the gentlemen of this Board of Trade (casa de contrata- 
cion) that they must detain them until they hear either by messenger 
or by letter of some disposition of the matter made by the King, Our 
Lord. This is avery necessary thing, and I know what I say. Orders 
must be sent to all the ports directing the authorities to be diligent in 
preventing people to go to the Indies without a permit. [I have already 
said that a great deal is kept there in houses badly built and straw 
roofed, that there are many ruffians among the people; that everybody 
dislikes the Governor, and that no punishment has been or is inflicted 
upon those whodo wrong or prove thereby to be benefited. If His 
Highness decides to do something, it must be done quick, so as to 
cause no injury to the vessels. 

I have heard that three Bishops are to be chosen to be sent to 
Hispaniola. If it pleases His Highness to hear me, before reaching a 
conclusion in this matter, I think that God, Our Lord, will be well 
served, and that His Highness will receive satisfaction. 

P.S. Ihave explained at length what must be provided for the 
Hispaniola. 


oe EF wed emmy ha 
a wfogtber mated" yoy bn . 
= mabe hig poten m - 


*: 


- al aes Si gles tomentlinne 
‘lea He abegis ti santas F 
4 emer 5 + Fas rin Hinde 


OF Kal POP 1 a 


Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, December 13th, 1504. 


4304. 


” 


Seeeinter 43. 


Fate mero eo rae rere, 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS oF CoLuMBUs. 155 


XVII. 


LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO HIS SON DizGo. Datep DECEMBER 13TH, 
1504. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE or VERAGUA, 
Maprib. 

My Dearest Son: 

Eight days have been completed to-day since the departure from 
here of your uncle, your brother and Carbajal, who went together to 
kiss the royal hands of His Highness and make a report of the voy- 
age, and also to aid you in the negotiation of whatever may prove to 
be necessary. 

Don Fernando left here with 150 ducats to be expended at his 
discretion. He will have to use some part of that money, but he will 
give you whatever he can. Healso carries with him a letter of credit 
for some of your merchants there. You must be careful in this mat- 
ter, because I have already had some trouble with your Governor, be- 
cause everybody had told me that I had there some eleven or twelve 
thousand castellanos, and the result was that I had only four thou- 
sand. He wanted to charge me many things which I was not bound 
to pay, and I, trusting on the promises made by Their Highnesses 
that restitution of everything should be ordered to be made to me, de- 
cided to allow him to go on with his charges. I was in hopes that 
some day I could call him to account for that. He is so overbearing 
that nobody who has money there dares to ask for it. 

Iam well aware of the fact that after I left he received more 
than 5,000 castellanos; and if it were possible for you to obtain from 
His Highness a good letter to him, ordering him to deliver to whom- 
ever I may send with my power of attorney an account of what be-, 
longs to me and send the money, it would be very good for all,— 
otherwise he will give nothing. Miguel Diaz and Velazquez dare not 
even mention the subject to him. Carbajal knows very well how 
this can be fixed. Show him this letter. The 150 ducats which 
Luis Soria sent to you when I came have been paid as he wished. 

I wrote you a long letter which I sent to you by Don Fernando. 
I also sent a memorandum. Now afterhaving given further thoughts 
to the subject I shall say that whereas Their Highnesses stated ver- 
bally and also under their signature, at the time of my departure, 
that they would give me everything to which I am entitled under my 
letters of privilege, it is proper not to make any claim, either for the 
third, or the tenth or the eighth, mentioned in the memorandum, 


156 Fietp CoLuMBIAN Museum. 


but to abide by the chapter of the letter in which their Highnesses 
told me what I have explained, and make the claim for all that be- 
longs to me under my letters of privilege. You have the book in 
which all these grants have been copied, and you will find there the 
explanation of the reason why I had to have the third, and the tenth 
and the eighth. There will be always time to make reductions in the 
sum to be paid. But His Highness says in his letter that he wishes 
to give me all that belongs to me. Carbajal will understand all I 
mean, as soon as he reads this letter. Everyone else will also under- 
stand it, as the letter is plain enough. 

I have also written to His Highness, and reminded him both of 
the necessity to take some measure in regard to the Indies to insure 
against some trouble among those people, and of the promises he 
made to me as above stated. It would be good for you to see this 
letter. 

I send to you, now, another letter of credit for those merchants. 
I have explained the reason why the expenses must be moderate. 
Pay to your uncle that respect which is due to him, and treat you, 
brother as an elder brother must treat the younger. You have no 
other brother, and the Lord must be blessed for having made him 
such a good one. He has proved and continues to prove to be a per- 
son of very clear head. Honor Carbajal and Diego Mendez. Give 
my regards to them all, and tell them that I have not written to them 
because there is nothing to write, and the messenger, furthermore, is 
hurrying me up. 

The rumor goes around in this place that the Queen, whom God 
has in his glory, left an order that I should be restored to the posses- 
sion of the Indies. 

As soon as the clerk of the fleet arrives here, I shall send to 
you the record of the investigation made, and the original writing to 
the Porres. 

I have not heard from either your uncle or your brother, since 
they left here. The rains have been so heavy that the river overflowed, 
and entered the city. 

If Agostin Italian and Francisco de Grimaldo are not willing to 
give you the money you may need, you must look for some others 
who may be willing to supply it. They must be sure that as soon as 
they send here your receipt, I shall honor your signature and pay at 
once all that was given to you. At present there is no person here 
with whom I might send the money to you. 

Dated to-day, Friday, the 13th of December, 1504. 

Your father who loves you more than himself. 


Se 
ae 
erens. 


S. 
X. 
Xpo 


= 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. sty 


XVIII. 


LETTER OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS TO HIS SON DigeGo. WRITTEN 
AT SEVILLE, DECEMBER 2IST, 1504. ORIGINAL IN COLLECTION 
OF THE DUKE oF VERAGUA, Mapbrib., 


My Dearest Son: 

The Adelantado and Carbajal and your brother left here for 
your place sixteen days ago, and I have not heard yet anything from 
them. Don Fernando took with him 150 ducats to attend to neces- 
sary expenses. He carried also a letter to the merchants ordering 
them to provide you with money. By Zamora, the postman, | sent 
you, afterwards, another of the same character, endorsed by Fran- 
cisco de Rivarol, in which I told you not to use it if you had made 
use of the former one. Now, as I wish you not to lack money, I send 
you by Francisco Doria, but with the same injunction, a third letter 
of credit. I have already explained how necessary it is for us to be 
cautious in expending money until our affairs are settled by Their 
Highnesses. I also told you that in bringing these people to Castile I 
expended 1200 castellanos, most of which His Highness owes me. I 
wrote to His Highness on the subject, and asked for an order to set- 
tle that account. 

I should like to have letters from you, if possible, everyday. I 
complain of Diego Mendez and of Jerome for not writing to me, and 
also all the others, who as soon as they reach there, cease to corres- 
pond with me. 

You must investigate whether the Queen, whom God has in His 
glory, said something in her will about me. It is alsoimportant for 
us to urge the Bishop of Palencia to hurry up. To him Their High- 
nesses are indebted for having the Indies—as he was the cause of my 
remaining in Castile, when I already had started to leave it. The 
Lord Chamberlain of His Highness must also be hurried up. 

You must endeavor, when the opportunity arrives, that they see 
the instrument in writing which is in the book of my privileges, 
wherein the reason is explained, as I told you in another letter why 
the third, and the eighth, and the tenth are due to me. 

I have written to my holy friend, the Father, because he com. 
plained of my silence. I send you a copy of this letter. I wish the 
King our Lord, or the Bishop of Palencia, would see this Father 
before I send my letter, so as to avoid misrepresentation. Camacho 


Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, from Seville, December a2tst, 1504. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS, 159 


has made thousands of false statements against me. I would, much 
tomy regret, arrest him. He is in the church, and says that when 
the holidays are over he will go there, if he can. He must prove 
what Iowe him. I state upon my oath that I do not think I owe 
him anything, and that what he says is not true. 

If without being importunate a permit can be obtained to ride on 
mule-back, I would try to go there after the month of January. 
But then I will start anyhow, in some other way, if the permit is not 
obtained. But let them make haste in providing the necessary for 
the preservation of the Indies and preventing their loss from being 
consummated. 

May Our Lord keep you in His holy guard. 

Dated December 21st. 

- Your father who loves you more than himself. 
S. 
ies oe) 
x, MY. 
Xpo Ferens. 


PosTSCRIPT TO LETTER XVIII. Datep DECEMBER 21st, 1504. 


This ‘tenth which they give me is not the tenth promised. The 
letters of privilege explain it well. The tenth of the profit made out 
of all the merchandise brought here, and of all other things, is due 
to me —and nothing in this respect is given tome. Carbajal under- 
stands well what I mean. Carbajal must not forget to secure a 
letter from His Highness to the Governor directing him to send his 
accounts, at once, and without delay, and also all the moneys which 
I have there. And it would be better for us, as the said sum must 
be a large one, that His Highness should send one of his servants 
to receive it. 

I will endeavor here to obtain from these Lords of the Board of 
Trade (contratacion) an order instructing the said Governor to send 
my money together with the gold belonging to Their Highnesses. 
But one thing must not interfere with the other. I think that the 
money belonging to me, accumulated there after my departure, 
amounts to seven or eight thousand dollars. Besides this, there is 
the money which they had retained before I left. 

To my very dear son 

Don Diego, at the 

Court. 


OAL rp Sle Io HA oS A Link] yp So Fie bags 
ES hifi Leino Fp pinta byl) COI yp ces, 
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ae WGpe ya OL) ee rate Ste whe GY AE melt Pinte tee 
Ghk Megs ote 2 eke / oak 67 afeolabe for BE ERs. gabe &, 
ni feb BREA ea OE nes Rpm | ate em 
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oconhing 7] CMe rt Pm pre ho Areal / Bord hore bos 
rete |] won oe Ha NRO Nye OE a Le A my 
pth / he pom Alba] WKH Fg my bani / pov BS Sige SS 
hater aa ee 
wb OG thee ENG EE ND gL ager 
bee SYS sry A Svvedn Sf. of Obey res 


A aple Of GHG Ce Soph » mre Ga bk ot hh op ! 
bes, a a i Ke oe, e mk a3 “ie ol gnel rf 3 
hee pk apis: SE IORI Do 
LE paphe SG gman 7 Pa te Dee) Ale fons Ea 
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stan woh RAG +> ¥°/ | oe 
a me t BY _ m 
| ole dy yap bovvn hi gored Liphi xSernens/ | 


Facsimile of portion of letter to Nicolo Oderigo, December 27th, 1504. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 161 


XIX, 


LETTER FROM CoLumBus TO NICOLO ODERIGO, GENOESE AMBASSADOR 
TO SPAIN. FRom SEVILLE, DECEMBER 27TH, 1504. ORIGINAL IN 
THE MUNICIPAL PALACE, GENOA. 


Virtuous Sir: 

When I started on my voyage to the places from where I have 
just come, I spoke at length with you. I understand that you 
remember well all that then was said. 

When returning here, I was in hopes to find some letters from 
you, or some messenger who would tell me verbally something in 
your name. 

At about the same time of my departure from here, I sent to 
you by Francisco de Ribarol a book containing copies of several 
letters, and another in which all the grants and privileges given me 
were also copied, the whole inclosed in a red morocco case, with a 
silver lock. I also sent by the same man two letters for the St. 
George gentlemen, in which I assigned to them the tenth of my rey- 
enue, in consideration of and compensation for the reduction made 
on the duties on wheat and the other supplies. To nothing of -this 
have I had any reply. Micer Francisco says that everything arrived 
safely. If this is the case, the failure of the St. George gentlemen 
to answer my letters is an act of discourtesy, for which the Treasury 
is by no means better off. This is the reason why it is generally 
said that to serve common people is serving no one.! 

Another book of my privileges, equal (similar) to the one above 
mentioned, was left by me at Cadiz with Franco Catanio (who is the 
bearer of this letter), with instructions to send it to you,—in order 
that you should keep it together with the other, in some safe place, 
at your discretion. 

At the time of my departure I received a letter from the King 
and Queen, my Lord and Lady. It is written there. Look at it, 
and you will find it very good. Nevertheless, Don Diego was not 
given possession, as it was promised, 

While I was in the Indies I wrote to Their Highnesses, through 
three or four channels, about my voyage. One of those letters came 
back to me, and sealed as it was, I inclose it in this and send it to 
you. In another letter I inclose also a supplement to the above 


1 Quien sirve a comun, no sirve a ningun. 


162 FIeELpD Co_tuMBIAN MUSEUM. 


description of my voyage, and I pray you to give both to Micer Juan 
Luis, to whom I also have written and said that you will be the 
reader and interpreter of the said letters. 

I am anxious to hear from you, especially about the plan which 
we agreed to. 

I arrived here very sick, and at about the time which the Queen, 
my Lady (whom God has with him), died and I could not see her. 

Up to the present, it is impossible for me to tell you what will 
be the practical result of all my doings. I suppose that Her High- 
ness has properly provided in her will for everything concerning this 
matter, and the King, my Lord, always gives good answers. 

Franco Catanio will verbally explain to you at length, all the 
rest. 

May our Lord keep you in His guard. 

From Seville, December 27th, 1504. 


Ss. 
SS: 
DA Wf 
Xpo Ferens. 
Great Admiral of the Ocean. 
Viceroy and Governor General of the Indies, 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 163 


XX. 


LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO HIS SON DiEGO. From SEVILLE, DECEM- 
BER 29TH, 1504. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF 


VERAGUA. 

My Very Dear Son: 

I wrote to you at great length, and sent my letter by Don 
Fernando who left here twenty-three days ago, in company with the 
Adelantado and Carbajal—and from none of you have I ever heard 
since. Sixteen days ago I wrote to you another letter, which I sent 
by Zamora, inclosing a letter of credit for the merchants there, 
endorsed by Francisco de Rivarol, ordering them to give you the 
money you might ask for. Subsequently, about eight days ago, I 
wrote to you again by another postman and inclosed another letter of 
credit, endorsed by Francisco Soria, and I addressed my communi- 
cation in care of Pansaleon and Augustin, the Italians, who were 
requested to deliver it to you. I also inclosed a copy of a letter 
which I wrote to our holy friend the Father on the affairs of the In- 
dies, to prevent him from complaining against me. And I sent this 
copy to you in order that either His Highness, or the Bishop of 
Palencia, may read it, and to avoid misrepresentations. 

The pay of the people who went with me has been delayed; 
and I have had to provide for them as far as I could. They are poor, 
and moved by their anxiety to make a living decided to go there. 
They have been promised here to be dealt with as much favor as 
possible, and this is simply justice,—though there are some among 
them more deserving of punishment than of reward. I say this in 
reference to the runaways. I gave these people a letter for the 
Bishop of Palencia. Try to read it, and to cause your uncle, your 
brother, and Carbajal to read it also, so as to enable you all to aid the 
bearers in securing success for the petitions they are going to make 
to His Highness. You yourself must help them all that you can, as 
it is just, besides being a work of mercy. No people ever earned 
their money with so much danger and fatigue, as these have done,— 
and none other have rendered such a great service as they have. 
They say that Camacho and Master Bernal are anxious to go there. 
They are two of those creatures for whom God does not make many 
miracles. If they go, it will be to doharm rather than good, But they 
can do little, because truth shall always prevail, as it happened when 
so much turmoil was raised upon false statements at La Espanola. 
This Master Bernal was the one who started the treasonable move- 
ment. He was arrested, and charged with many crimes, for each 


Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, December 2gth, 1504. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 165 


one of which he deserved to be quartered. At the request of your 
uncle and others he was pardoned, on condition however that said 
pardon would be revoked and he would be again liable to be pun- 
ished in the proper way, if he would say the slightest thing against 
me and my officers. I inclose here a copy of the record which shows 
the whole of this business. As to Camacho, I will send you some 
legal papers referring to-him. For more than eight days he has 
remained inside the church, without daring to leave it, for fear of the 
trouble into which he may get for his rashness and slanders. He 
has in his possession a will made by Terreros; but some relations of 
this Terreros have another will, subsequent in date, which annuls the 
former, as far as the disposition of the property is concerned. And 
I have been requested to attend to the fulfillment of the second will 
and the execution of all that is provided by it,—and therefore ] am 
bound to compel Camacho to make restitution of what he has 
received. I shall attend to the preparation of the proper legal docu- 
ments, which I shall have served on him. I believe that punishing 
him is a work of mercy. His tongue knows no restraint. Some one 
has to punish him, without the use of the rod, and that punishment 
will be harder for him and better for the conscience of the chastiser. 

Diego Mendez is well acquainted with Master Be-nal and his 
doings. The Governor wanted to put him in prison, while at La 
Espanola; but at my request he left him free. They say that he 
killed there two men, with some-poison, in revenge for some wrong 
which did not amount to three beans. . 

If the permit to ride on mule-back can be obtained, without 
trouble, I would be pleased. Then I would like also to have ~ 
good mule. ; 

Take advice with all about our business. Tell all others that 
do not write to them because of the great pains that writing mak~ 
me suffer. But they must not imitate my example, but on the coi 
trary write to me, each one separately, and very often. How grieve: 
I feel when I see that everybody here receives letters from there, 
and that I, who have so many of my people there, do not receive 
any. Give myregards to the Adelantado, to your brother an‘ all the 
others. 

Dated at, Seville, December 29. 

Your father who loves youmore than himself. 

S. 
Rig ae 
x. MOY: 
Xpo Ferens. 


I further say that if our affaits are to be settled according to the 
dictates of conscience, the chapter of the letter which Their High- 
nesses wrote to me, when I sailed, in which they said they would order 
to give you possession of all, must be shown and made use of. And 
then you must make use also of the instrument in writing in 
the book of my privileges, which explains the reason why in all jus- 
tice and equity, the third, the eighth and the tenth are mine There 
will be always time afterwards to make re actions. 


: ae ; 
rA Apr ANWAR 


ay 


WA TY yore 


ek Bat te Kee, Sarper he fare Cxtwns, Oesscecany 4° Pas, 


1 


Facsimile of portion of letter to Father Gaspar, January 4th, 1505. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS, 167 


XXI. 


LETTER FROM CoLUMBUS TO FATHER GASPAR CorRICIO, A CARTHUS- 
IAN Monk ar THE MONASTERY oF Las CUEVAS, NEAR SEVILLE, 
DaTED JANUARY 4TH, 1505. ORIGINAL IN COLLECTION OF THE 
DuKE OF VERAGUA. 


Reverend and Most Pious Father: 

Diego Mendez has come from the Court. Don Diego is there 
well. The Adelantado and Don Fernando had not arrived yet. I 
will send them all to you with information of everything. I do not 
know how to say how much I wishto see youand communicate to you 
something which must not be trusted to the pen. I should lke to 
peruse those instruments in writing and privileges which you have in 
your possession, and order a box to be made of cork, lined with wax, 
to keep those papers. I ask you asa great favor to send them all to 
me by that honest man, the lay brother, if he is coming, and if not, 
by Andrew, the brother of Juan Antonio, bearer of this letter. 

Iam, thanks to Our Lord, improving daily in my health. 

My kind regards to the Reverend Father Superior, and to all the 
religious members of your house. 

Dated this Saturday, the 4th of January. 

Always ready to do what Your Reverence may command. 

5. 
Sees Vai 
XM 
Xpo Ferens. 


168 FieLp CoLUMBIAN MusSEuUM. 


XXII. 


LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO HIS SON DigeGo. DATED JANUARY 18TH, 
1505. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF VERAGUA, 
Mapbrib, 

My Dearest Son: 

I wrote to you a long letter which I forwarded by a messenger 
who will reach you to-day. I sent you also a letter for the Lord 
Chamberlain. I intended to inclose in it a copy of that chapter of 
the letter of Their Highnesses in which they promised to order you 
to be put in possession of everything; but I forgot to make the copy. 
Zamora, the postman, came. [read your letter, and also those of 
your uncle, your brother, and Carbajal. I was very happy to know 
that they had safely arrived, because I had experienced great anxiety 
in that respect. Diego Mendez will leave here, in three or four days, 
and will take the draft with him. He will carry alsoa full statement 
of everything. I shall write to Juan Velazquez, whose friendship 
and services I desire to obtain. I believe that he isa very honorable 
gentleman. Tell the Bishop of Palencia, if he has arrived there, or 
if not when he arrives, that I have been very much pleased with his 
prosperity, and that if I go there I will stop where he is, evenif he is 
unwilling, and that we both have to come back to our first brotherly 
love for each other, which he will have no power to refuse, because 
my services to him will force him to grant it. The copyof my letter 
to our holy friend the Father was sent to you, as I said, in order that 
you might show it to the Bishop of Palencia, if he was there, or to 
the Archbishop of Seville, for fear that the King might have no time 
to look into this matter. I have told you that the petition to Their 
Highnesses must be for the fulfillment of what they wrote to me 
about the possession and of all the other promises which were then 
made; and I said that it was important to show him the chapter afore- 
said of their letters. I recommended further that all of this should 
be done without delay, as it is advisable, for innumerable reasons, to 
act in this matter speedily. Let His Highness be persuaded that no 
matter how much he gives me it will be always in the proportion of 
one to one hundred when compared with theincrease of his dominions 
and revenue, and furthermore, that what has been already done is 
nothing in comparison with what is to be done in the future. The 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS, 169 


sending of a Bishop to Hispaniola is a matter which must be 
delayed until I have spoken with His Highness, lest it may happen 
like in the other cases in which things were spoiled instead of being 
amended. 

We have had here and still are having some very cold days— 
which have done and continue todo me much harm, Give my best 
regards to the Adelantado. May Our Lord bless you and your 
brother and keep you both in His holy guard. Remember me to 
Carbajal and Jerome. Diego Mendez will arrive there with his 
pocket full. I think that the business about which you wrote can be 
easily transacted. The vessels from the Indies have not yet arrived 
from Lisbon, They have brought much gold butnone forme. Such 
a great mockery has never been seen. I left there sixty thousand 
dollars smelted. His Highness should not allow such great affairs to 
be ruined. 

The Governor sends now some new application, but I do not 
know for what purpose. I am waiting for letters. Be careful in 
expending the money. It is advisable to do so. 

Dated January 18th. 

~ Your father who loves you more than himself. 
S. 
Ser ees 
bs 
Xpo Ferens. 


Cag bak ” Sok HES. x“ AS 
= poled Sar eye SN es e 


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Facsimile of portion of letter to Don Diego Columbus, February 5th, 1505, 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS, 171 


> OA OU 


LETTER FROM CoLuMBUS TO HIS SON DigeGo. DATED FEBRUARY 5TH, 
1505. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF VERAGUA. 


My Dearest Son: 

Diego Mendez left here on Monday, the 3rd of the present 
month. After he left I spoke with Amerigo Vespusze, the bearer of 
this letter who goes there, where he has been called on business of 
navigation. He always wanted to please me. Heisa very honest 
man. Fortune has been as adverse to him as to many others, and 
his labors have not been so profitable to him as it was reasonable 
to expect. He goes for my good, and very anxious todo everything 
which may prove beneficial to me if it is within his power. Ido not 
know of any particular thing in which I might instruct him to my 
benefit, because I do not know exactly what he is wanted for there. 
But he goes determined to do for me all that he may possibly do. 
You must see what kind of service he may render to my advantage, 
and co-operate with him in having it rendered. He will work and 
speak and do everything suggested, but the suggestion must be made 
secretly so as to remove suspicion. Ihave told him all that can be 
said concerning these matters, and have informed him of the reward 
which they have given and continue to give to me. 

This letter must be deemed as written also to the Adelantado, in 
order that he may see also what service Vespusze may render, and 
communicate with him. 

His Highness must be sure that his vessels were in the best and 
richest part of the Indies, and if there isanything else to be known, 
in addition to what has been already said, I will give the information 
orally, because it is impossible to put it in writing. 

May Our Lord keep you in His holy guard. 

Dated at Seville, February 5th. 

Your father who loves you more than himself. 


S. 
a Are 
Re MEY: 


Xpo Ferens, 


172 FieLD CoLUMBIAN MusEuM. 


XXIV. 


LETTER FROM COLUMBUS TO HIS SON DiEGO, FEBRUARY 25TH, 1505. 
ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF VERAGUA, MADRID. 


My Dearest Son: 

Licenciate De Zea is agentlemanto whom I want to dohonor, He 
has in his charge the cases of two men who were subject to criminal 
prosecution, as it appears from the inclosed papers. See that Diego 
Mendez takes all the steps necessary to have those petitions pre- 
sented to His Highness, together with the others, on the day of the 
coming Holy Week, in which it is customary to grant pardons. If 
the pardon is then granted, all right; but, if not, you all must look 
into some other manner of obtaining it. 

May Our Lord keep you in His holy guard. 

Dated at Seville, February 25th, 1505. 

I wrote to youand sent the letter by Amerigo Vespusze. See 
that he sends to you the letter if you have not received it yet. 

Your father, 

Xpo Fereus: 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS, LS 


XXV. 


DRAFT OF LETTER OF COLUMBUS RELATING TO HIS CLAIMS AGAINST 
THE CROWN OF SPAIN, BASED UPON THE PRIVILEGES AND CONCES- 
SIONS GRANTED TO HIM BY THE CONTRACT WITH THE SPANISH Sov- 
EREIGNS, FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLEC- 
TION OF THE DUKE OF BERWICK-ALBA, MADRID. 


T 


‘Report on my privileges and concessions. 
Jhs cumas, t no... . ” 
Jesus cum Mari sit nobis in vita 
(May Jesus and Mary be with us in life). 


MAGNIFICENT SIRS: 

It appears trom your privilege and the articles of agreement 
entered into with you, that their Highnesses appointed you Admiral 
of the Ocean Seas, which they defined by causing a line to be 
drawn from pole to pole, crossing the Cape Verde Islands and the 
Azores, and that they granted to you exactly the same rights, hon- 
ors, and favors as are enjoyed by the Lord Admiral of Castile within 
his own district. 

Item. They graciously appointed you also Viceroy and Govy- 
ernor-General of all the islands and continents, whether already dis- 
covered or to be discovered, on the other side of the line aforesaid, 
and they granted you the power to appoint all the officers who 
should be required for the administration of the government of the 
said islands and continents. 

Item. They also gave you the tenth of everything received 
from the district subject to your jurisdiction as Admiral, after deduct- 
ing the expenses. 

Item. They gave you, likewise, the eighth of all the profits 
made out of expeditions, or fleets sent to the Indies, to the equip- 
ment of which you had contributed by paying one-eighth of the ex- 
penses. 

It appears from the acts of confirmation of your privileges that 
you are the discoverer of the islands and continents of the Indies. If 
anything is now discovered there, it will be owing to you and your 
industry, and can not properly be called discovery. You are the 
one who discovered the Indies, in spite of the doubts which were 


174 - FreELD CoLuMBIAN MusEuM. 


raised about their existence, and of the great opposition raised 
against you both by men of learning and by people of practical 
knowledge in navigation and matters connected with the sea, who all 
said that you were joking and that God had never placed any land 
where you said. Whoever goes now to the Indies, even if he goes 
to places where you never set your foot, cannot, as against you, 
be called a discoverer, for he only goes to a district which is already 
under your jurisdiction as admiral, and enters seas or lands which 
were discovered by you. Under these circumstances, your rights 
and authority as Admiral and Viceroy and Governor-General, and 
your power to make appointments for all offices are to be exercised 
in and over the whole district, whether on land or on the sea, whether 
already traveled or to be traveled hereafter, on the other side of the 
line which has been mentioned before. Beyond that line you are the 
only one having authority to attend in the name of their Highnesses 
to all tne business of the Government, to hear and decide all cases 
and causes, to affix the Royal Seal entrusted to you for such pur- 
poses, to all letters patent to be issued there, to administer justice in 
civil and criminal matters, and to have and exercise full power and 
jurisdiction in everything relative to the administration of said Gov- 
ernment, as more in full described in the ordinances and letters of 
concession and privileges which I have examined. 


It appears, furthermore, that by a Royal letter of 1497, issued 
at Medina, their Highnesses freed you from sharing the expenses 
incurred up to that date on account of this business, and exempted 
you also from contributing toward defraying the expenses of the ex- 
pedition which was then being equipped and you had to take to the 
Indies. The said Royal letter says that you are bound to pay noth- 
ing on this account, except in case of expenses incurred subsequent 
to your arrival at Hispaniola. You are free from paying expenses 
prior to that moment; but you cannot, either,demand anything out 
of what was brought here during the same period. 

As you admit to having arrived there on the 31st of August, 
1489, a liquidation must be made of all the expenses incurred ever 
since, and you shall be bound to contribute such portion thereof as 
has been agreed upon. 

From the agreements entered into with the Lord Admiral of 
Castile, it appears that he is entitled to one-third of all the profits 
made on the sea, either by him or their Highness’ navy. Whereupon, 
under your own letters of concession, which gave you exactly the 
same rights and privileges as are given the Lord Admiral of Castile, 
you are entitled to a third of the profits. 

It appears from the agreements entered into with you, in re- 
gard to the share you ought to have out of the profits made 
and to be made in this business of the Indies, that the said 
share belongs to you under three different considerations and for 
three different reasons. Your share under each head is clearly 
stated, and there is no possibility of error or misunderstanding in 
this respect. The liquidation of the profits is simply a matter of 
arithmetic, as in the following example: 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 175 


A man fits out a vessel and says to one of his servants: I make 
you master of this vessel; go, and you shall have one-third of all the 
profits. ‘Then he calls another servant and says to him: Go on 
board the vessel to be the purser and you shall have the tenth. Fin- 
ally he callsa third servantand tellshim: Go as a clerk, and whereas 
you have contributed one-eighth of the expenses you shall have also 
the eighth part of the profits. 

The vessel sailed, and on her return it was found out that the 
profits amounted toten ducats. The master says then to the man who 
fitted out the vessel: ‘‘ Sir, the profits amount to ten ducats, order 
the third part of thatsum to be given to me as promised,” and so he 
ordered. Then comes the purser and says: ‘‘ Sir, the profits were 
ten ducats; order a tenth of that sum to be given tome as prom- 
ised,” and so he ordered. Finally the clerk comes and says: ‘Sir, 
I contributed one-eighth of the expenses to fit out this vessel; the 
profits made by her are ten ducats, cause one-eighth of these ten 
ducats to be given to me,” and so he did. 

An account like this is to be made to liquidate the share which, 
under the concessions made in your favor in this business of the In- 
dies, belongs to you. It would be wrong to give you the tenth of 
the whole, and then the eighth of the balance, not of the whole, and 
then the third of the second balance, and not also of the whole. 
Such a manner of making the calculation would be unacceptable, as 
each chapter of heading clearly fixes the portion which under it must 
be paid to you. 

In regard to the expenses my opinion is that as our Lord has 
given enough in this business to pay amply all those which have been 
incurred, you might as well be satisfied with seeing them paid, if so 
pleases their Highnesses, out of the gold or anything else of value 
which may be found there, and with having your share of the profits 
paid to you by their Highnesses out of the net balance. 

I have noticed that your deeds contain a provision, made by 
their Highnesses, ordering that nothing must be done in regard to 
the Indies without your personal intervention or the intervention of 
a person having your power of attorney. 

I have also noticed another provision under which nothing can 
be sent to the Indies without your signature and the signature of the 
person appointed at Cadiz for such purposes by their Highnesses, 
nor can anything brought from the Indies be received here without 
the signature both of the said person and of the deputy comptroller. 

I have seen also a bull of the Holy Father which is on file among 
your papers, which states that you were and are the one who discov- 
ered and won those Indies as a servant of their Highnesses. 

From all your letters of privileges and concessions it appears, as 
already stated, that you must have by reason of your rights, equal to 
those of the Lord Admiral of Castile, one-third of everything 
obtained within the limits placed under your jurisdiction as Admiral 
of the Ocean Sea, and by reason of your other concessions the eighth 
and the tenthof the same. If their Highnesses make some other 
concessions in the Indies without saying what is yours a wrong will 


176 Fietp CoLtumpBiAN Museum. 


be inflicted upon you, and this wrong will be done whether the new 
concession applies to money matters or in regard to the right of 
making appointments, or whether it concerns so-called new discoy- 
eries or not. The discovery of the Indies was, as above stated, the 
basis and the consideration upon which the agreements were made 
and entered into with you and executed and signed, and as soon as 
you discovered the first island you discovered the Indies, and your 
part of the contract was fulfilled. It was then that the Indies were 
given to their Highnesses by the bull of donation issued by the Pope. 

Their Highnesses are in conscience bound to indemnify you for 
all damages which, and deprivation of your rights, may cause you to 
sustain. 

Gentlemen, I ask for nothing, and I place into the Royal hands 
of the Queen and refer to her all that is stated in the foregoing 
writing. I shall show to your lordships my titles and letters of priv- 
ilege whenever desired. 

Another privilege which I have seenin your papers granted to 
you is the power to convey your office of Viceroy and Admiral and 
Governor-General and all your property unto Don Diego, your son, or 
unto whomsoever you may be pleased, and that none of the said 
offices and nothing of the said property can ever be taken away, 
whether for debts or criminal offense, unless the latter is a crime 
lessee majestatis. 


(See frontispiece for fac-simile of No. XXVI on next page.) 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS, 177 


XXVI. 


AUTOGRAPHIC STATEMENT BY COLUMBUS OF GOLD BROUGHT FROM- 
AMERICA AND SOLD BY HIM IN CASTILE. DATE UNKNOWN. PRop- 
ABLY IN 1493. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF 
BERWICK-ALBA, MADRID. 


On July 13 Christobal de Torres sold at Seville 2 marks, 7 
ounces, 4 ochavas of gold, at 453, the weight of a castellano. 

On August 12, at Valladolid, Carbajal sold 2 marks, 6 ounces, 4 
ochaves, 3 tomins, almost all of which was given by him in payment 
of the clothing which he bought for himself. 

September 11, at Arcos, Carbajal sold 6 ounces, 2 ochaves, rt 


tomin, 3 grains. All was sold at......... 

September 19, Burgos, 4 ounces, 7 ochaves, 3 tomins were 
weighed. 

October 7, Carbajal sold 7 ounces, 4 ochaves, 5 tomins, 3 grains, 
at 445. 


October 25, Burgos, Carbajal sold 7 ounces, 4 ochaves, 5 tomins, 
3 grains, at 445. 

November 12, 4 Burgos, Carbajal sold 1 mark, 6 ounces and 7 
ochaves, less 14 grains, at 438. 

December 17, Burgos, Carbajal sold 7 ounces, 2 ochaves and 3 
tomins, at 446. 

January 10, Burgos, Carbajal sold 1 mark, 6 ounces, 1 ochave, 


February 6, Burgos, Carbajal sold 7 ounces, 4 ochaves, 4 tomins, 
4 grains, at 445. 

February 13, Burgos, Juan Antonio sold 7 ounces, 6 ochaves, 1 
tomin, at 450. 

February 28, Burgos, Juan Antonio sola 4 marks, 5 ounces, 6 
ochaves and 3 tomins, at 450. 

March 15, or before, Burgos, Juan Antonio sold 1 mark, (this 
item covers the transaction or business of the ‘‘funda”) charged 
to him at 453. 

December 30, Burgos, Juan Antonio sold to the silversmith who 
made the seal 4 ounces, 2 ochaves, 3 tomins, at 448. 

January 24, Burgos, Carbajal sold 1 mark, 4 ochaves, 3 tomins, 
heer 
March 3, Juan Antonio gave to the silversmith in payment of 
the necklace made by him, 1 ounce and 2 tomins, at 453. 

The sum of gt reals was due to the said silversmith for 47 links, 
which the necklace has, at 2 reals per link. 

At the foot of the page, on the left corner, Columbus made the 
following note: ‘“T'wo hundred and thirty-four doredos which Don 
Diezo Save, Me ON». <....2...+- 

The title given by Columbus to this paper, written by him across 
the left margin, was; ‘‘Statement of the gold sold in Castile up to 


EME MONthsS OF ..cc.c.+cacs 


178 Fre.p CoLumbian Museum. 


XXVII. 


TRANSLATION OF ORIGINAL DRAFT BY COLUMBUS FOR ONE HUNDRED 
GOLD CASTELLANOS. DATED AT GRANADA, OCTOBER 22ND, I501. 
ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF BERWICK-ALBA, 


MADRID. 

Most Virtuous Sir: 

I pray you to cause one hundred gold castellanos, which I need 
here to go to Seville to be loaned tome. You will be pleased to 
order them to be given to the bearer, Diego Tristan, my Majordomo, 
who will acknowledge the receipt thereof on the back of this draft. 

Done on Friday, the 22nd of October, 1501. 

S. 
5. Alize 
> Moe 
The Admiral. 


On the back. (In the handwriting of some one else). 
The Admiral of the Indies. 30 ee a. yap ee 


I, Diego Tristan, do hereby acknowledge to have received of the 
treasurer, Alonzo de Morales, the one hundred castellanos to which 
the present draft of the Admiral refers, said amount being equal to 
48,500 maravedis. In testimony of whichI have hereunto subscribed 
my name, at Granada, on the 23rd of October, 1501. 

Diego Tristan. (Autograph). 

Memorandum in continuation of the above in Columbus’ hand- 
writing : 

The above amount was deducted from the 150,000 which after- 
ward were given to me at Seville, by order of Her Highness, to aid 
me in defraying the expenses, and the receipt of which I acknowl- 
edged. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS, 179 


XXVIII. 


TRANSLATION OF THE CONTRACT BETWEEN COLUMBUS AND THE Sov- 
EREIGNS. FIRST VOYAGE. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE 
Duke oF VERAGUA, MADRID. 


In the name of the Holy Trinity and Eternal Unity, Father, Son 
and Holy Ghost, three persons really distinct and one divine essence, 
who lives and reigns forever without end; and of the most Blessed 
Virgin, glorious Holy Mary, our Lady, His Mother, whom we hold 
as Lady and Advocate in all our undertakings; and to the honor and 
reverence of her, and of the most blessed Apostle St. James, light 
and mirror of the Spains, patron and guide of the Kings of Castile 
and of Leon; and likewise to the honor and reverenceof all the other 
Saints of the Celestial Court; as man, by whatever knowledge he mat 
have of the world, cannot, according to nature, completely know 
what God is, but may know Him by seeing and contemplating His 
wonders and the works and deeds which He performed and per- 
forms every day, because all the works are the effect of His power 
and are governed by his wisdom and maintained by His goodness; 
and so, man may understand that God is the beginning, the middle 
and the end of all things; and that they are included in Him and He 
maintains each one in that state in which He placed it in the order 
(of the world), and all stand in need of Him and He of none, and He 
can change them whenever it may be agreeable to His will, and He 
can not be subjected to change, nor be changed in anything; and He 
is called the King of Kings, because from Him they derive their 
name and reign through Him, and He governs and preserves them, 
who are Vicars (each one in His own kingdom), placed by Him over 
the people to maintain them temporarily in justice and in truth, 
which is fully demonstrated in two ways—the one spiritual, accord- 
ing as the prophets and saints demonstrated, upon whom our Lord 
conferred the grace of understanding those things certainly and 
made them to be understood by others; the other natural, as the phi- 


180 FIELD CoLUMBIAN MUSEUM. 


losophers demonstrated, who understood those things naturally, for 
the saints declared that the King is established upon earth in the 
place of God to render justice and give to every one his right, and on 
this account they called him the heart and soul of the people; and as 
the soul resides in the heart of man and the body lives and is pre- 
served by it, so justice is established in the King, which is the life 
and preservation of the people of his dominions. And as the heart 
is one, and through it all the other members receive unity so astoform 
one body, in like manner all the inhabitants of the kingdom, although 
many,are one, because the King must be and is one, and through 
him all have to be one with him to follow and assist him in the 
things he has to perform. ‘Then philosophers naturally declared 
that King's are the head of kingdoms, for in the same manner as sen- 
timent springs from the head, which commands all the other mem- 
bers of the body, in like manner by the command which emanates 
from the King, Lord and Head of all, the inhabitants of the kingdom 
must be directed and governed, and that they have to obey him; and 
so great is the right of kingly power that all the laws and rights are 
in the power of Kings, who acknowledge it not from men, but from 
God, whose place they hold in temporal affairs. Among other 
things it especially behooves the King to love, honor and preserve 
his people, and among these things he must particularly distinguish 
and honor persons meritorious, either by services rendered to him or 
on account of their being endowed with goodness. And as, according 
to the sayings of the wise, justice is one of the virtues peculiar to 
kings, which is the support and truth of things, by which the world 
is better and more justly preserved, being likewise a fountain from 
which every right is derived and remains always alive in the minds 
of just men and never fails, giving and distributing to each one 
equally his right, and embracing in itself all the principal virtues; 
and very great utility arises from it, because it engages every person 
to live with prudence and in peace according to his state without 
fault and without error, the good becoming through it better by 
receiving a reward for their deeds rightly performed, and the others 
correcting themselves and entering through it into the right road. 
Of which justice there are two principal parts—the one is communi- 
cative between man and man, the other is distributive, which carries 
with it the rewards and recompenses of the good and virtuous labor; 
and services which individuals render to Kings and Princes and to 
the commonweal of their kingdoms; and as the conferring a reward 
upon those who serve well and faithfully is an attribute, as the law 
says, very becoming to all mankind, and more especially to kings, 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 181 


Princes and great Lords, who have the power of doing it, and whose 
proper office itis to honor and elevate those who serve them well 
and faithfully and who are worthy of it on account of their virtues 
and services; and kings in conferring rewards upon worthy actions 
show by that their acknowledgement of virtue and love of justice, for 
justice consists not only in giving an example of punishment as a 
terror to the wicked, but likewise in recompensing the good, and 
besides this a signal advantage arises from it, because it excites the 
good to become better and the wicked to correct themselves, and by 
not acting thus the contrary might take place, and since among 
other rewards, and remunerations which Kings have in their 
power to bestow upon them truly-and faithfully, there is that of 
honoring and elevating them above all the others of their race and 
ennobling, decorating and honoring them, and conferring many 
other kindnesses, favors and graces upon them. 

We, considering and reflecting upon the above said things, will, 
that, by this our patent of privilege, and bya copy of it signed by a 
public scrivener, present and future generations may know, that, 
We, Don Ferdinand and Dona Isabella, by the grace of God, King 
and Queen of €astile, Leon, Aragon, Sicily, Granada, Toledo, Va- 
lencia, Galacia, Majorca, Seville, Sardinia, Corsica, Murcia, Jahen, 
Algarve, Algesira, Gibraltar, and the Canary Islands, Count and 
Countess of Barcelona, Lords of Biscay and Molina, Dukes of 
Athens and Neopatria, Counts of Roussillon and Cerdan, Marquises 
of Orestan and Goziano, have seen a patent of grace signed with 
our names, and sealed with our seal, drawn up as follows: 

Don Ferdinand and Dona Isabella, by the grace of God, King 
and Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Sicily, Granada, Toledo, Va- 
lencia, Galacia, Majorca, Seville, Sardinia, Cordova, Corsica, Murcia, 
Jahen, Algarve, Algesira, Gibraltar, and the Canary Islands, Count 
and Countess of Barcelona, Lords of Biscay and Molina, Dukes of 
Athens and Neopatria, Counts of Roussillon and Cerdan, Marquises 
of Orestan and Goziano: Inasmuch as you, Christopher Columbus, 
are going by our commands to discover and conquer, with some of 
our vessels and our subjects, certain islands and mainland in the 
ocean, and as it is hoped, with the assistance of God, that some of 
the aforesaid islands and mainland in the said ocean will be discov- 
ered and conquered through your labor and industry; and it being 
just and reasonable that for exposing yourself to such danger for our 
service, you should be rewarded: We, desiring on that account to 
do you honor and favor, declare it to be our will and pleasure, that 
you, the above said Christopher ‘Columbus, when you shall have dis- 


182 FIELD CoLuMBIAN Museum. 


covered and conquered the said islands and mainland in the said 
ocean, or any one whatsoever of them, be our Admiral of the said 
islands and mainland, which you shall thus discover and conquer, and 
be our Admiral, Viceroy and Governor of them and that you may, 
from this time forward, style and entitle yourself Don Christopher 
Columbus; and likewise your children and successors in the said office 
and charge, may entitle and call themselves, Don, Admiral, Viceroy 
and Governor of them; and that you may use and exercise the said 
office of Admiral, with the aforesaid office of Viceroy and Govy- 
ernor of the above said islands and mainland, which you discover 
and conquer, by yourself as well by means of your lieutenants, 
and hear and determine all suits, and civil and criminal causes 
respecting the said office of Admiral, and of Viceroy and Governor, 
according as you will find by right, and in the manner in which the 
Admirals of our kingdoms were accustomed to use and exercise it; 
and that you may punish and chastise delinquents; and use the said 
office of Admiral, Viceroy and Governor, you and your above said 
lieutenants, in all that concerns and is annexed to the said offices, 
and to each one of them; and that you may have and receive the 
rights and fees belonging and annexed to the said offices and to each 
of them; according as our high admiral in the admirality of our 
kingdoms receives, and is accustomed to receive them. And by this 
our patent, or by acopy of it, signed by a public scrivener, we com- 
mand the Prince Don John, our most dearly beloved son, the 
Infantes, dukes, prelates, marquises, counts, masters of orders, priors, 
companions, and those of our council; and the auditors of our cham- 
ber, alcaldes, and other officers of justice, whoever they may be, of 
our household, court and Chancery, and the governors of castles 
and strong and open places; and all counselors, assistants, corregi- 
dors, alcaldes, bailiffs and sheriffs, and the twenty-four sworn chan- 
cellors, esquires, officers, and good men of all the cities, towns and 
places of our kingdoms and dominions, and of those which you shall 
conquer and acquire, and the captains, masters, mates and officers, 
mariners and seamen, our subjects and natives, who now are and 
shall be hereafter, and every one, and whomsoever of them; that the 
said islands and mainland in the ocean, being discovered and ac- 
quired by you, and they being taken, and the solemnities that are 
required on such occasions having been observed by you, or by the 
person who shall receive the power for you, to have and to hold to 
you hereafter, during all your life, and after you, your son and suc- 
cessor, and from successor to successor forever, as our Admiral of 
the said ocean, and as Viceroy and Governor of the aforesaid islands 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS oF COLUMBUS. 183 


and mainland, which you, the above said Don Christopher Columbus, 
shall discover and acquire; and to treat of whatever regards such 
things with you, and with your above said lieutenants, whom you 
shall place in the said offices of Admiral, Viceroy and Governor, and 
to exact and cause to be exacted for you, with quittance, the fees and 
other things annexed and belonging to the said officers, and to 
observe, and cause to be observed towards you all the honors, graces, 
favors, liberties, pre-eminences, prerogatives, exemptions and im- 
munities, and all and every other thing which by rigut of the said 
offices of Admiral, Viceroy and Governor you are to have and enjoy, 
and which are to be maintained to you in all, well and completely, 
in such manner as not to be diminished in anything, and not place, 
nor permit to be placed, any sequestration upon, nor offer any oppo- 
_ sition to them; because, We, with this our patent, now and forever, 
make a grant to you of the said offices of Admiral, Viceroy and Gov- 
ernor, by right of inheritance forever; and we give you possession of 
them, and of every one of them, with the power and authority to 
use and exercise them, and to take the fees and salaries annexed 
and belonging to them, and every one of them according as has 
been said. As for such as has been said, if it were necessary, 
and if you should demand it, we order our chancellor, notaries, 
and other officers who are employed in the office of our seals, 
to give, expediate and seal for you, our patent to privilege, 
folded up in the form of a roll; in the strongest, most firm, and fit 
manner, and that you may demand of them, what may be necessary 
for you; and none of you act, nor let act otherwise in any manner, 
under the penalty of our displeasure, and of ten thousand maravedis 
for our chamber, upon any pretense whatsoever. And moreover, we 
enjoin the individual, who presents to you this our patent, to cite 
you to appear before our presence in our courts, wherever we may 
be, within the fifteen days next following the day of the cita- 
tion, under the aforesaid penalty; under which we command every 
public scrivener whatsoever, who for this purpose shall be called 
upon, to give to him who shall have presented this paper a cer- 
tificate signed with his signet, in order that he may know how our 
command is executed. 

Given in our city of Granada, on the thirteenth day of the 
month of April, in the year of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
yne thousand four hundred and ninety-two. 

I, Tue Kine. 
I, THE QUEEN. 


184 Fietp Cotumpian Museum. 


X XIX. 


ROYAL LETTERS PATENT FROM THE SOVEREIGNS OF SPAIN, COMMAND- 
ING THE INHABITANTS OF PALOS TO FURNISH CHRISTOPHER COLUM- 
BUS EVERYTHING NECESSARY TO EQUIP THE CARAVELS FOR HIS FIRST 
VOYAGE. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OE VERA- 
Gua, MAprIpD. 


Don Ferdinand and Dona Isabella, by the grace of God, King 
and Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon, etc., etc., to you Diego Rodri- 
guez Prieto, and to all other persons inhabitants of the town of Palos. 
Greeting: You are well aware that in consequence of some offense 
which we received at your hands, you were condemned by our coun- 
cil to render us the service of two caravels armed at your own 
expense for the space of twelve months whenever and wherever it 
should be our pleasure to demand the same, this service to be ren- 
dered under certain penalties as stated more at large in the sentence 
given against you. 

And, inasmuch as we have ordered Christopher Columbus to 
proceed with a fleet of three caravels, as our captain, to certain parts 
of the ocean, upon a matter connected with our service, and we desire 
that the two caravels, the service of which you owe us as above said, 
should be placed at his disposal—we hereby order that within ten 
days from the sight of this letter, without delay or waiting for any 
further directions, you have in complete readiness the said two armed 
caravels for the service of the above said Christopher Columbus in 
the enterprise upon which we have dispatched him, and that they be 
placed at his command from that time forth; and for the crews of 
the said two caravels we order him to pay you forthwith four months’ 
wages at the same rate with which the crew of the other caravel is 
paid, being the common allowance for ships of war. 

The vessels thus placed under his direction shall follow the route 
ordered by him on our part, and obey him in all other orders, pro- 
vided that neither you nor the said Christopher Columbus, nor any 
other person belonging to the said caravels, shall proceed to the mine 
nor to the countries in that neighborhood occupied by the King of 
Portugal, our brother, as it is our desire to adhere to the agreement 
existing between us and the said King of Portugal upon that head. 

And having received a certificate from the said captain that he 
had received the said two caravels from you, and is satisfied with the 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 185 


same, we shall consider you as having discharged the obligation 
imposed upon you by our council as above said, and we hereby 
declare you henceforth free from the same; but in the event of the 
non-fulfillment of or procrastination of the above order, we shall 
forthwith command the execution of the penalties contained in the 
aforesaid sentence, upon each one of you and your goods, 

The above requisition is to be complied with throughout, under 
pain of our displeasure and a penalty of ten thousand maravedis for 
the non-performance of any part thereof, to which end we hereby 
order under the said penalty, whatever public notary may be called 
upon for that purpose to furnish you with the proper signed attesta- 
tions, that we may be assured of the fulfillment of our orders. 

I, Tue Kine. 

I, THE QUEEN, 

Given in the City of Granada,on the 
thirtieth day of April, in the year 
of Our Lord Jesus Christ one 
thousand four hundred and ninety- 
two. 
Juan Der Cooma, 
Secretary of the King and Queen, etc. 
Done in due form, 


Ropericus, Doctor. 
Registered, 
SEBASTIAN DE OLANO, 
Francisco DE Maprip, 
Chancellor. 


186 Fietp CoLumBiAN MUSEUM. 


XXX. 


RoyAL LETTERS PATENT FROM THE SOVEREIGNS OF SPAIN GRANTING 
LICENSE TO THE PERSONS ACCOMPANYING COLUMBUS ON HIS FIRST 
VOYAGE. ORIGINAL IN THE COLLECTION OF THE DUKE OF VERA- 
GuA, Maprip. 


Don Ferdinand and Dona Isabella, by the grace of God, King 
and Queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon, etc., etc. To the members of 
our Council, Oidors of our Court of Audience, Corregidores, Asis- 
tentes, Alcades, Alguaeils, Merinos, and all other magistrates what- 
soever of all the cities, towns and villages of our kingdoms and 
dominions, to every one who shall see this writing or a copy of the 
same attested by a public notary, Greeting: 

Be it known to you that we have ordered Christopher Columbus 
to proceed to sea for the accomplishment of certain business for our 
service, and as we are informed by him that in order to man the fleet 
which he is to command for the execution of this purpose, it is neces- 
sary to grant security to the persons composing thecrew of the same, 
who would be otherwise unwilling to embark, and being requested by 
him to give the necessary orders for this measure, we have determined 
to grant what is demanded by him relating to this matter. 

We therefore grant a security to each and every person belong- 
ing to the crews of the fleet of the said Christopher Columbus, in the 
voyage by sea which he is to undertake by our command, exempting 
them from all hindrance or inconvenience either in their persons or 
goods; and we declare them privileged from arrest or detention on 
account of any offense or crime which may have been committed by 
them up to the date of this instrument, and during the time they 
may be upon the voyage, and for two months after they return to 
their homes. 

And we hereby command you, all and each one, in your several 
districts and jurisdictions, that you abstain from trying any criminal 
cause touching the person of the crews under the command of the 
said Christopher Columbus, during the time above specified, it being 
our will and pleasure that every matter of thissort remain suspended. 
This order is to be complied with as you value our favor, and under 
a penalty of ten thousand maravedis for any infringement of the same, 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 187 


And we hereby furthermore command every public notary who 
shall be applied to for any purpose connected with the above men- 
tioned mandate, that he furnish all the proper signed attestations 
which are necessary in the case, in order that we may be assured of 
the due performance of our orders. 

I, THe Kine. 
I, THE QUEEN. 
Given in our City of Granada, on 
the thirtieth day of April, in the 
year of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, 
one thousand four hundred and 
ninety-two 
Juan De Cooma, 


ps Secretary. 
Executed in due form, 


Ropericus, Doctor. 
Francisco De Maprip, 
Chancellor. 


188 Fi—eLp CoLUMBIAN MuUSEuM., 


XXXI. 


LETTER OF CoLuMBuUs TO LouIs SANTANGEL, GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF 
HIS FIRST VOYAGE AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEw WorLD. SENT 
OVERLAND FROM LisBON, FEBRUARY, 1493, AND PUBLISHED IN 
MARCH, 1493. ORIGINAL PROBABLY DESTROYED BY PRINTER, 


T 


Sir: As I am sure you will be pleased at the great victory which 
the Lord has given me in my voyage I write this to inform you that 
in twenty days I arrived in the Indies with the squadron which their 
Majesties had placed under my command. There I discovered many 
islands, inhabited by a numerous population, and took possession of 
them for their Highnesses, with public ceremony and the royal flag 
displayed, without molestation. 

The first that I discovered I named San Salvador, in remem- 
brance of that Almighty Power which had so miraculously bestowed 
them. The Indians call it Guanahani. To the second I assigned 
the name of Santa Marie de Conception; to the third that of Fer- 
nandina; to the fourth that of Isabella; to the fifth Juana; and so on, 
to every one a new name. 

When I arrived at Juana, I followed the coast to the westward 
and found it so extensive that I considered it must be a continent 
and a province of Cathay. And as I found no towns or villages by 
the seaside, excepting some small settlements, with the people of 
which I could not communicate because they all ran away, I con- 
tinued my course to the westward, thinking I should not fail to find 
some large town and cities. After having coasted many leagues 
without finding any signs of them, and seeing that the coast took me 
to the northward, where I did not wish to go, as the winter was 
already set in, I considered it best to follow the coast to the south; 
and the wind being also scant, I determined to lose no more time, 
and therefore returned to a certain port, from whence I sent two 
messengers into the country to ascertain whether there was any king 
there or any large city. 

They traveled for three days, finding an infinite number of small 
settlements and an innumerable population, but nothing like a city: 
on which account they returned. I had tolerably well ascertained 
from some Indians whom I had taken that this land was only an 
island, so I followed the coast of it to the east 107 leagues, to its 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF CoLuMBuUs. - 189 


termination. And about eighteen leagues from this cape, to the 
east, there was another island, to which I shortly gave the name of 
Espanola. I went to it, and followed the north coast of it, as I had 
done that of Juana, for 178 long leagues due east. 

This island is very fertile, as well, indeed, as all the rest. It 
possesses numerous harbors, far superior to any I know in Europe, 
and what is remarkable, plenty of large inlets. The land is high, 
and contains many lofty ridges and some very high mountains, with- 
out comparison of the Island of Centrefrey; all of them very hand- 
some and of different forms; all of them accessible and abounding 
in trees of a thousand kinds, high, and appearing as if they would 
reach the skies. And I am assured that the latter never lose their 
fresh foliage, as far as I can understand, for I saw them as fresh and 
flourishing as those of Spain in the month of May. Some were in 
blossom, some bearing fruit, and others in other states, according to 
their nature. 

The nightingale and a thousand kinds of birds enliven the woods 
with their song, in the month of November, wherever I went. 
There are seven or eight kinds of palms, of various elegant forms, 
besides various other trees, fruits and herbs. The pines of this 
island are magnificent. It has also extensive plains, honey, and a 
great variety of birds and fruits. It has many metal mines, and a 
population innumerable. 

Espafiola is a wonderful island, with mountains, groves, plains, 
and the country generally beautiful and rich for planting and sow- 
ing, for rearing sheep and cattle of all kinds, and ready for towns 
and cities. The harbors must be seen to be appreciated; rivers are 
plentiful and large and of excellent water; the greater part of them 
contain gold. There is a great difference between the trees, fruits 
and herbs of this isiand and those of Juana. In this island there 
are many spices, and large mines of gold and other metals. 

The people of this island and of all the others which I have dis- 
covered or heard of, both men and women, go naked as they were 
born, although some of the women wear leaves of herbs or a cotton 
covering made on purpose. They have no iron or steel, nor any 
weapons; not that they are not a well-disposed people and of fine 
stature, but they are timid to a degree. They have no other arms 
excepting spears made of cane, to which they fix at the end a sharp 
piece of wood, and then dare not use even these. Frequently I had 
occasion to send twoor three of my men on shore to some settlement 
for information, where there would be multitudes of them; and as 
soon as they saw our people they would run away every soul, the 
father leaving his child; and this was not because any one had done 
them harm, for rather at every cape where I had landed and been 
able to communicate with them I have made them presents of cloth 
and many other things without receiving anything in return; but 
because they are so timid. Certainly, where they have confidence and 
forget their fears they are so open-hearted and liberal with all they 
possess that it is scarcely to be believed without seeing it. If any- 
thing that they have isasked of them they never deny it; on the con- 


190 Fretp Co_tumbpian Museum. 


trary, they will offer it. Their generosity is so great that they would - 
give anything, whether it is costly or not, for anything of every kind 
that is offered them and be contented with it. I was obliged to prevent 
such worthless things being given them as pieces of broken basins, 
broken glass, and bits of shoe-latchets, although when they obtained 
them they esteemed them as if they had been the greatest of treas- 
ures. One of the seamen for a latchet received a piece of gold weigh- 
ing two dollars and a half, and others, for other things of much less 
value, obtained more. Again, for new silver coin they would give 
everything they possessed, whether it was worth two or three doub- 
loons or one or two balls of cotton. Even for pieces of broken pipe- 
tubes they would take them and give anything for them, until when 
I thought it wrong, I prevented it. And I made them presents of 
thousands of things which I had, that I might win their esteem and 
also that they might be made good Christians and be disposed to the 
service of your Majesties and the whole Spanish nation, and help us 
to obtain the things which we require and of which there is abun- 
dance in their country. 

And these people appear to have neither religion nor idolatry, ex- 
cept that they believe that good and evil come from the skies; and 
they firmly believed that our ships and their crews, with myself, 
came from the skies, and with this persuasion, after having lost their 
fears, they always received us. And yet this does not proceed from 
ignorance, for they are very ingenious, and some of them navigate 
their seas ina wonderful manner and give good account of things, 
but because they never saw people dressed or ships like ours. 


And as soon as I arrived in the Indies, at the first island at 
which I touched, I captured some of them, that we might learn from 
them and obtain intelligence of what there was in those parts. Andas 
soon as we understood each other they were of great service to us; 
but yet, from frequent conversation which I had with them, they still 
believe we came from the skies. These were the first to express 
that idea, and others ran from house to house, and to the neighboring 
villages, crying out, ‘‘Come and see the people from the skies.” And 
thus all of them, men and women, after satisfying themselves of their 
safety, came to us without reserve, great and small, bringing us 
some thing to eat and drink, and which they gave to us most affec- 
tionately. 

They have many canoes in those islands propelled by oars, some 
of them large and others small, and many of them with eight or ten 
paddles of a side, not very wide, but all of one trunk, and a boat 
cannot keep way with them by oars, for they are incredibly fast; and 
with these they navigate all the islands, which are innumerable, and 
obtain their articles of traffic. I have seen some of these canoes 
with sixty or eighty men in them, and each with a paddle. 

Among the islands I did not find much diversity of formation in 
the people, nor in their customs, nor their language. They all 
understand each other, which is remarkable; and I trust Your High- 
nesses will determine on their being converted to our faith, for which 
they are very well disposed. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 191 


I have already said that I went 107 leagues along the coast of 
Juana, from east to west, Thus, according to my track, it is larger 
than England and Scotland together, for, besides these 107 leagues, 
there were further west two provinces to which I did not go, one of 
which is called Cibau, the people of which are born with tails; which 
provinces must be about fifty or sixty leagues long, according to what 
I can make out from the Indians I have with me, who know all the 
islands. The other island, (Espafiola) is larger in circuit than the 
whole of Spain, from the Straits of Gibralter (the Columns) to Fuen- 
tarabia in Biscay, as I sailed 138 long leagues in a direct line from 
west to east. Once known it must be desired, and once seen one 
desires never to leave it; and which, being taken possession of for 
their Highnesses, and the people being at present in a condition 
lower than I can possibly describe, the sovereigns of Castile may dis- 
pose of it in any manner they please in the most convenient places. 
In this Espafiola, and in the best district, where are gold mines, and, on 
the other side, from thence to terra firma, as well as from thence to 
the Great Khan, where everything is on a splendid scale—I have 
taken possession of a large town, to which I gave the name of La 
Navidad, and have built a fort in it, in every respect complete. And 
I have left sufficient people in it to take care of it, with artillery and 
provisions for more than a year; also a boat and coxswain with the 
equipments, in complete friendship with the King of the islands, to 
that degree that he delighted to call me and look on me as his 
brother. And should they fall out with these people, neither he nor 
his subjects know anything of weapons, and go naked, as I have 
said, and they are the most timorous people in the world. The few 
people left there are sufficient to conquer the country, and the island 
would thus remain without danger to them, they keeping order 
among themselves. 


In all these islands it appeared to me the men are contented with 
one wife, but to their governor orking they allow twenty. The women 
seem to work more than the men. I have not been able to discover 
whether they respect personal property, for it appeared to me things 
were common to all, especially in the particular of provisions. Hith- 
erto I have not seen in any of these islands any monsters, as there 
were supposed to be; the people, on the contrary, are generally well 
formed, nor are they black like those of the Guinea, saving their 
hair and they do not reside in places exposed to the sun’s rays. It is 
true that the sun is most powerful there, and it is only twenty-six 
degrees from the equator. In this last winter those islands which 
were mountainous were cold, but they were accustomed to it, with 
good food and plenty of spices and hot nutriment. ThusI have 
found no monsters nor heard of any, except at an island which is the 
second in going to the Indies, and which is inhabited by a people who 
are considered in all the islands as ferocious, and who devour human 
flesh. These people have many canoes, which scour all the islands 
of India, and plunder all they can. They are not worse formed than 
the others, but they wear the hair long like women, and use bows 
and arrows of the same kind of cane, pointed with a piece of hard 


192 Fietp Cotumpian Museum. 


wood instead of iron, of which they have none. They are fierce 
compared with the other people, who are in general but sad cow- 
ards; but I do not consider them in any other way superior to them. 
These are they who trade in women, who inhabit the first island 
met with in going from Spain to the Indies, in which there are no 
men whatever. They have no effeminate exercise, but bows and 
arrows, as before said, of cane, with which they arm themselves, and 
use shields of copper, of which they have plenty. 

There is another island, I am told, larger than Espafiola, the 
natives of which have no hair. In this there is gold without limit, 
and of this and the others I have Indians with me to witness. 

In conclusion, referring only to what has been effected by this 
voyage, which was made with so much haste, Your Highnesses may 
see that I shall find as much gold as desired with the very little 
assistance afforded to me; there is as much spice and cotton as can 
be wished for, and also gum, which hitherto has only been found in 
Greece, in the island of Chios, and they may sell it as they please, 
and the mastich, as much as may be desired, and slaves, also, who 
will be idolators. And I believe that I have rhubarb, and cinna- 
mon, and a thousand other things I shall find, which will be dis- 
covered by those whom I have left behind, for I did not stop at 
any cape when the wind enabled me to navigate, except at the town 
of Navidad, where I was very safe and well taken care of. And in 
truth much more I should have done if the ships had served me as 
might have been expected. This is certain, that the Eternal God 
our Lord gives all things to those who obey Him, and the victory 
when it seems impossible, and this, evidently, is an instance of it, 
for although people have talked of these lands, all was conjecture 
unless proved by seeing them, for the greater part listened and 
judged more by hearsay than by anything else. 

Since, then, our Redeemer has given this victory to our illus- 
trious King and Queen and celebrated their reigns by such a great 
thing, all Christendom should rejoice and make great festivals, and 
give solemn thanks to the Blessed Trinity, with solemn praises for 
the exaltation of so much people to our holy faith; and next for the 
temporal blessings which not only Spain but they will enjoy in becom- 
ing Christians, and which last may shortly be accomplished. 

Written in the caravel off the Canary Islands, on the fifteenth 
of February, ninety-three. 


The following is introduced into the letter after being closed: 


‘“‘After writing the above, being in the Castilian Sea (off the 
coast of Castile), I experienced so severe a wind from south and 
southeast that I have been obliged to run today into this port of Lis- 
bon, and only by a miracle got safely in, from whence I intended to 
write to Your Highnesses. In all parts of the Indies I have found 
the weather like that of May, where I went in ninety-three days, and 
returned in seventy-eight, saving these thirteen days of bad weather 
that I have been detained beating about in this sea. Every seaman 
here says that never was so severe a winter, nor such loss of ships. 


AuTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS, 193 


XXXII. 


THE WILL OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, CERTIFIED COPY IN THE COL- 
LECTION OF THE DUKE oF VERAGUA, MADRID. 


In the name of the Most Holy Trinity, who inspired me with the 
idea and afterward made it perfectly clear to me, that I could navi- 
gate and go to the fndies from Spain, by traversing the ocean west- 
wardly; which I communicated to the King, Don Ferdinand, and to 
the Queen, Dofia Isabella, our Sovereigns; and they were pleased to 
furnish me the necessary equipment of men and ships, and to make 
me their Admiral over the said ocean, in all parts lying to the west of 
an imaginary line drawn from pole to pole, a hundred leagues west 
of the Cape de Verde and Azore Islands, also appointing me their 
Viceroy and Governor over all continents and islands that I might 
discover beyond the said line westwardly; with the right of being 
succeeded in the said offices by my eldest son and his heirs forever, 
and a grant of the tenth part of all things found in the said jurisdic- 
tion; and of all rents and revenues arising from it; and the eighth of 
all the lands and everything else, together with the salary correspond- 
ing to my rank of Admiral, Viceroy and Governor, and all other 
emoluments accruing thereto, as is more fully expressed in the title 
and agreement sanctioned by their Highnesses. 

And it pleased the Lord Almighty that in the year one thousand 
fourihundred and ninety-two, I should discover the continent of the 
Indies and many islands, among them Espafiola, which the Indians 
call Ayte and the Menicongos, Cipango. I then returned to Castile 
to their Highnesses, who approved of my undertaking a second en- 
terprise for further discoveries and settlements, and the Lord gave 
me victory over the Island of Espafiola, which extends six hundred 
leagues, and I conquered it and made it tributary; and I discovered 
many islands inhabited by cannibals, and seven hundred to the west 
of Espafiola, among which is Jamaica, which we call Santiago; and 
three hundred and thirty-three leagues of continent from south to 
west, besides a hundred and seven to the north, which I discovered 
on my first voyage; together with many islands, as may more clearly, 
be seen by my letters, memorials and maritime charts. And as we 
hope in God that before long a good and great revenue will be derived 
from the above islands and continent, of which, for the reason afore- 


194 Fretp Co_tumpBian Museum. 


said, belong to me the tenth and the eighth, with the salaries and 
emoluments specified above; and considering that we are mortal, and 
that it is proper for every one to settle his affairs, and to leave de- 
clared to his heirs and successors the property he possesses or may 
have a right to: Wherefore, I have concluded to create an entailed 
estate (mayorazgo) out of the said eighth of the lands, places and rey- 
enues, in the manner which I now proceed to state: 


In the first place I am to be succeeded by Don Diego, my son, 
who, in case of death without children, is to be succeeded by my 
other son, Ferdinand; and should God dispose of him also without 
leaving children and without my having any other son, then my 
brother, Don Bartholomew, is to succeed; and after him his eldest son; 
and if God should dispose of him without heirs, he shall be succeeded 
by his sons from one to another forever; or in the failure of a son, to 
be succeeded by Don Ferdinand, after the same manner, from son 
to son, successively; or in their place by my brothers, Bartholomew 
and Diego. And should it please the Lord that the estate, after hav- 
ing continued some time in the line of any of the above successors, 
should stand in need of an immediate and lawful-male heir, the suc- 
cession shall then devolve to the nearest relation, being a man of 
legitimate birth and bearing the name of Columbus derived from his 
father and his ancestors. ‘This entailed estate shall in nowise be in- 
herited by a woman, except in case that no male is to be found, either 
in this or any other quarter of the world, of my real lineage, whose 
name as well as that of his ancestors, shall have always been Colum- 
bus. In such an event (which may God forefend), then the female 
of legitimate birth most nearly related to the preceding possessor of, 
the estate shall succeed to it; and this is to be under the conditions 
herein stipulated at foot, which must be understood to extend as well 
to Don Diego, my son, as to the aforesaid and their heirs, every one 
of them, to be fulfilled by them; and failing to do so they are to be 
deprived of the succession for not having complied with what shall 
herein be expressed; and the estate to pass to the person most nearly 
related to the one who held the right; and the person thus succeeding 
shall in like manner forfeit the estate, should he also fail to comply 
with said conditions; and another person, the nearest of my lineage, 
shall succeed, provided he abide by them, so that they may be ob- 
served in the form prescribed. This forfeiture is not to be incurred 
for trifling matters, originating in lawsuits, but in important cases, 
when the glory of God, or my own, or that of my family may be 
concerned, which supposes a perfect fulfillment of all the things here- 
by ordained; all which I recommend to the Courts of Justice. And I 
supplicate His Holiness, who now is, and those who may succeed to 
the holy church, that if it should happen that this, my will and testa- 
ment, has need of his holy order and command for its fulfillment, that 
such order be issued in virtue of. obedience and under penalty of ex- 
communication, and that it shall not be in any wise disfigured. And 
I also pray the King and Queen, our Sovereigns, and their eldest 
born, Prince Don Juan, our Lord and their successors, for the sake of 
the services I have done them, and because it is just, and that it may 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 195 


please them not to permit this, my will and constitution of my entailed 
estate to be any way altered, but to leave it in the form and manner 
which I have ordained forever, for the greater glory of the Almighty, 
and that it may be the root and basis of my lineage, and a memento 
of the services I have rendered their Highnesses; that, being born in 
Genoa, I came overto serve them in Castile and discovered to the 
west of terra firma the Indies and islands before mentioned. I accord- 
ingly pray their Highnesses to order that this, my privilege and testa- 
ment, be held valid and be executed summarily, and without any op- 
position or demur, according to the letter. I also pray the grandees 
of the realm and the lords of the council, and all.others having ad- 
ministration of justice to be pleased not to suffer this, my will and 
testament, to be of no avail, but to cause it to be fulfilled as by me 
ordained; it being just that a noble, who has served the King and 
Queen and the kingdom, should be respected in the disposition of his 
estate by will, testament, institution of entail or inheritance, and that 
the same be not infringed either in whole or in part. 


In the first place, my son, Don Diego, and all my successors and 
descendents, as well as my brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, shall 
bear my arms, such as I shall leave them after my days, without in- 
serting anything else in them; and they shall be their seal to seal with 
all. Don Diego, my son, or any other who may inherit this estate, on 
coming in possession of the inheritance, shall sign with the signature 
which I now make use of, which is an X with an S over it, and an M 
with a Roman A over it, and over that an S, and then a Greek Y, 
with an S over it, with its lines and points as is my custom, as may 
be seen by my signatures, of which there are many, and it will be 
seen by the present one. 

He shall only write ‘‘ The Admiral,” whatever other titles the 
King may have conferred on him. This is to be understood as 
respects his signature, but not the enumeration of his titles, which 
he can make at full length if agreeable, only the signature is to be 
©The Adnriral.” 

The said Don Diego, or any other inheritor of this estate, shall 
possess my offices of the Admiral of the Ocean, which is to the west 
of an imaginary line, which his Highness ordered to be drawn, run- 
ning from pole to pole, a hundred leagues beyond the Azores, and as 
many more beyond the Cape de Verde Islands, over all of which I 
was made by their order, their Admiral of the Sea, with all the pre- 
eminences held by Don Henrique in the Admiralty of Castile; and 
they made me their Governor and Viceroy perpetually and forever, 
over all the islands and mainlands discovered, or to be discovered, 
for myself and heirs, as is more fully shown by my treaty and privi- 
leges as above mentioned. 

Item. The said Don Diego, or any other inheritor of this estate, 
shall distribute the revenue which it may please our Lord to grant 
him, in the following manner, under the above penalty. 

first. Of the whole income of this estate, now and at all times, 
and of whatever may be had or collected from it, he shall give the 
fourth part of it to my brother, Don Bartholomew Columbus, Adel- 


196 FieLp CoLumBian Museum. 


antado of the Indies, and this is to continue until he shall have ac- 
quired an income of a million maravedis* for his support, and 
for the services he has rendered and will continue to render to this 
entailed estate; which million he is to receive, as stated, every year, 
if the said fourth amount to so much, and that he have nothing else; 
but if he possess a part or the whole of that amount in rents, that 
henceforth he shall not enjoy the said million, nor any part of it, ex- 
cept that he shall have in the fourth year part unto the said quantity 
of a million, if it should amount to so much; and as much as he shall 
have a revenue besides this fourth part, whatever sum of maravedis 
of known rent from property or perpetual offices, the said quantity 
of rent or revenue from property or offices shall be discontinued; and 
from said million shall be reserved whatever marriage portion he 
may receive with any female he may acquire or may have over and 
above his wife’s dowry; and when it shall please God that he or his 
heirs and descendants shall derive from their property and offices 
arevenue of a million arising from rents, neither he nor his heirs 
shall enjoy any longer anything from the said fourth part of the en- 
tailed estate which shall remain with Don Diego, or whoever may 
inherit. 

Item. From the revenues of the said estate, or from any fourth 
part of it (should its amount be adequate to it), shall be paid every 
year to my son Ferdinand two millions, till such time as his revenue 
shall amount to two millions, in the same form and manner as in the 
case of Bartholomew, who, as well as his heirs, are to have the mil- 
lion or the part that may be wanting. 

Item. The said Don Diego or Don Bartholomew shall make 
out of the said estate, for my brother Diego, such provision as may 
enable him to live decently, as he is my brother, to whom I assign 
no particular sum, as he has attached himself to the church, and that 
will be given him which is right; and this is to be given him in a 
mass, and before anything shall have been received by Ferdinand, 
my son, or Bartholomew, my brother, or their heirs; and also ac- 
cording to the amount of the income of the estate. And in case of 
discord, the case is to be referred to two of our relations, or other 
men of honor; and should they disagree among themselves, they will 
choose a third person as arbitrator, being virtuous and not distrusted 
by either party. 

Item. All this revenue which I bequeath to Bartholomew, to 
Ferdinand, and to Diego, shall be delivered to and received by them 
as prescribed under the obligation of being faithful and loyal to 
Diego, my son, or his heirs, they as well as their children; and should 
it appear that they, or any of them, had proceeded against him in 
anything touching his honor, or the prosperity of the family or of the 
estate either in word or deed, whereby might come a scandal and de- 
basement to my family, and a detriment to my estate in that case, 
nothing further shall be given to them or his from that time forward, 
inasmuch as they are always to be faithfulto Diego and his successors. 

Item. As it was my intention, when I first instituted this en- 
tailed estate, to dispose, or that my son Diego should dispose for me, 


*Approximately thirty-five hundred dollars. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 197 


of the tenth part of the income in favor of necessitous persons, as 
a tithe, and in commemoration of the Almighty, and Eternal God; and 
persisting still in this opinion, and hoping that his High Majesty will 
assist me, and those who may inherit it, in this or the New World, I 
have resolved that the said tithe shall be paid in the manner follow- 
ing: 
first. It is to be understood that the fourth part of the revenue 
of the estate which I have ordained and directed to be given to Don 
Bartholomew, until he have an income of one million, includes the 
tenth of the whole revenue of the estate; and that, as in proportion 
as the income of my brother Don Bartholomew shall increase, as it 
has to be discounted from the revenue of the fourth part of entailed 
estate, that the said revenue shall be calculated, to know how much 
the tenth part amounts to; and the part which exceeds what is neces- 
sary to make up the million for Don Bartholomew shall be received 
by each of my family as may most stand in need of it, discounting it 
from the said tenth, if their income do not amount to the fifty thous- 
and maravedis; and should any of these come to have an income to 
this amount, such a part shall be awarded to them as two persons, 
chosen for the purpose, may determine along with Don Diego or his 
heirs. Thus, it is to be understood that the million which I leave to 
Bartholomew comprehends the tenth of the whole revenue of the 
estate; which revenue is to be distributed among my nearest and 
most needy relations in the manner I have directed; and when Don 
Bartholomew has an income of one million, and that nothing more 
shall be due to him on account of said fourth part, then Don Diego, 
my son, or the persons which I shall herein point out, shall inspect 
the accounts and so direct that the tenth of the revenue shall still 
continue to be paid to the most necessitous members of my family that 
may be found in this or any other quarter of the world, who shall dili- 
gently be sought out; and they are to be paid out of the fourth part 
from which Don Bartholomew is to derive his million, which sums 
are to be taken into account, and deducted from the said tenth, 
which, should it amount to more, the overplus, as it arises from the 
fourth part, shall be given to the most necessitous persons as afore- 
said; and should it not be sufficient, that Don Bartholomew shall 
have it until his own estate goes on increasing, leaving the said mil- 
lion in part or in the whole. 

Item. The said Don Diego, my son, or whoever may be the in- 
heritor, shall appoint two persons of conscience and authority, and 
most nearly related to the family who are to examine the revenue 
and its amount carefully, and to cause the tenth to be paid out of the 
fourth from which Don Bartholomew is to receive his million to his 
most necessitous members of my family who may be found here or 
elsewhere, whom they shall look for diligently upon their con- 
sciences; and as it might happen that said Don Diego or others after 
him, for reasons which may concern their own welfare, or the credit 
support of the estate, may be unwilling to make known the full 
amount of the income, nevertheless I charge him on his conscience 
to pay the sum aforesaid and charge them on their souls and con- 


198 Firtp CoLumpBian Museum. 


sciences not to denounce or make it known, except with the consent 
of Don Diego, or the person that may succeed him, but let the above 
tithe be paid in the manner I have directed. 


Item. In order to avoid all disputes in the choice of the two 
nearest relations who are to act with Don Diego or his heirs, I hereby 
elect Don Bartholomew, my brother, for one, and Don Fernando, my 
son, for the other; and when these two shall enter upon the business 
they shall choose two other persons among the most trusty, and most 
nearly related, and these again shall elect two others, when it shall 
be question of commencing the examination; and thus it shall be 
managed with diligence from one to the other, as well in this as in 
the other of government, for the service and glory of God, and the 
benefit of the said entailed estate. 

Item. I also enjoin Diego, or any one that may inherit the es- 
tate, to have and maintain in the city of Genoa one person of our line- 
age to reside there with his wife, and appoint him a sufficient revenue 
to enable him to live decently, as a person closely connected with the 
family, of which he is to be the root and basis in that city; from 
which great good may accrue to him, inasmuch as I was born there, 
and came from thence. 


Item. The said Don Diego, or whoever shall inherit the estate, 
must remit in bills, or in any other way, all such sums as he may be 
able to save out of the revenue of the estate, and direct purchases to 
be made in his name, or that of his heirs, in a fund in the Bank of 
St. George,* which gives an interest of six per cent. and is secure 
money ; and this shall be devoted to the purpose I am about to ex- 
plain. 


Item. As it becomes every man of rank and property to serve 
God, either personally or by means of his wealth, and as all moneys 
deposited with St. George are quite safe, and Genoa is a noble city 
and powerful by the sea, and as at the same time that I undertook to 
set out upon that discovery of the Indies, it was with the intention of 
supplicating the King and Queen, our lords, that whatever moneys 
should be derived from the said Indies should be invested in the con- 
quest of Jerusalem; and as I did so supplicate them, if they do this, 
it will be well; if not, at all events the said Diego, or such persons as 
may succeed him in this trust, to collect together all the money he 
can, and accompany the King, our lord, should he go to the con- 
quest of Jerusalem, or else go there himself with all the force he can 
command; and in pursuing this intention, it will please the Lord to 
assist toward the accomplishment of the plan; and should he not be 
able to effect the conquest of the whole, no doubt he will achieve in 
part. Let him therefore collect and make a fund of all his wealth in 
St. George in Genoa, and let it multiply there until such time as it 
may appear to him that something of consequence may be effected as 
respects the project on Jerusalem; for I believe that when their High- 
nesses shail see that this is contemplated, they will wish to realize it 
themselves, or will afford him, as their servant and vassal, the means 
of doing it for them. 


“The great financial corporation ot Genoa. 


AUTHENTIC LETTERS OF COLUMBUS. 199 


Item. I charge my son Diego and my descendants, especially 
whoever may inherit this estate, which consists, as aforesaid, of the 
tenth of whatsoever may be had or found in the Indies, and the 
eighth part of the lands and rents, all which, together with my rights 
and emoluments as admiral, viceroy and governor, amount to more 
than twenty-five per cent., I say, that I require of him to employ all 
this revenue, as well as his person, and all the means in his power, 
in well and faithfully serving and supporting their Highnesses, or 
their successors, even to the loss of life and property; since it 
was their Highnesses, next to God, who first gave the means of get- 
ting and achieving this property, although, it is true, I came over 
these realms to invite them to the enterprise, and that a long time 
elapsed before any provision was made for carrying it into eexcution; 
which, however, is not surprising, as this was an undertaking of 
which all the world was ignorant, and no one had any faith in it; 
wherefore, Iam by so much more indebted to them, as well as be- 
cause they have since also much favored and promoted me. 


Item. I also require of Diego, or whosoever may be in posses:- 
ion of the estate, that in the case of any schism taking place in the 
church of God, or that any person of whatever class or condition 
should attempt to despoil it of its property and honors they hasten to 
offer at the feet of his Holiness, that is, if they are not heretics 
(which God forbid), their persons, power and wealth, for the purpose 
of suppressing such schism, and preventing any spoliation of the 
honor and property of the church. 

Item. I command the said Diego, or whoever may possess the 
said estate, to labor and strive for the honor, welfare and aggran- 
disement of the city of Genoa, and to make use of all his power and 
means in defending and enhancing the good and credit of that repub- 
lic, in all things not contrary to the service of the church of God, or 
the high dignity of the King and Queen, our lords and their succes- 
sors. 

Item. The said Diego, or whoever may possess or succeed to the 
estate, out of the fourth part of the whole revenue, from which, as 
aforesaid, is to be taken a tenth, when Don Bartholomew or his heirs 
shall have saved the two millions, or part of them, and when the 
time shall come for making a distribution among our relations, shall 
apply and invest the said tenth in providing marriages for such 
daughters of our lineage as may require it, and in doing all the good 
in their power. 

Item. When a suitable time shall arrive, he shall order a church 
to be built in the island of Espafiola, and in the most convenient 
spot, to be called Santa Maria de la Conception; to which is to be an- 
nexed an hospital, upon the best possible plan, like those of Italy and 
Castile, and a chapel is to be erected in which to say mass for the 
goof of my soul, and those of my ancestors and successors with 
great devotion, since no doubt it will please the Lord to give usa 
sufficient revenue for this and the afore-mentioned purposes. 

Item. I also order Diego my son, or whosoever may inherit 
after him, to spare no pains in having and maintaining in the island of 


200 FreLp CoLumMBIAN MUSEUM. 


Espanola, four good professors in theology, to the end and aim of 
their studying and laboring to convert to our holy faith the inhabi- 
tants of the Indies; and in proportion as by God’s will the revenue of 
the estate shall increase in the same degree shall the number of 
teachers and devout persons increase, who are to strive to make 
Christians of the natives; in attaining which no expense should be 
thought too great. And in commemoration of all that I hereby ordain, 
and of the foregoing, a monument of marble shall be erected in the 
said church of La Conception, in the most conspicuous place, to serve 
as a record of what I here enjoin on the said Diego, as well as to 
other persons who may look upon it; which marble shall contain an 
inscription to the same effect. 

Item. I also require of Diego, my son, and whosoever may suc- 
ceed him in the estate, that every time, and as often as he confesses, 
he first show his obligation, or a copy of it, to the confessor, praying 
him to read it through, that he may be enabled to inquire respecting 
its fulfillment; from which will redound great good and happiness to 
his soul. 

S. 
S.A. 8; 
Xe Me 

E1 Almirante. 


PUBLICATIONS OF THE MUSEUM. 


The series of publications of the Field Columbian Museum, 
of which this is a number, began with ‘‘An Historical and Descrip- 
tive Account of the Field Columbian Museum.” The numbers which 
will succeed in the series will not be restricted in their authorship or 
subject if coming within the scope of scientific or technical discussion 
and contributive to the high standard it is hoped the publications 
will maintain. The publications will include transactions, memoirs, 
monographs, bulletins, handbooks, and catalogues of collections. 


The following publications have been issued: 


Vol. 1, No. 1. An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Field 
Columbian Museum. 


Vol. 1, No. 2. The Authentic Letters of Columbus. 
William Eleroy Curtis. 


IN PREPARATION. 


Handbook and Catalogue of the Collection of Meteorites. 
O. C. Farrington, Curator of Geology. 


Archeological Studies among the Ancient Cities of Mexico. 
W. H. Holmes, Curator of Archeology. 


Contribution to the Flora of Yucatan. 
C. F. Millspaugh, Curator of Botany. 


Vertebral Column of Amia. 
O. P. Hay, Assistant Curator of Ichthyology. 


The above publications are for gratuitous distribution to libra- 
ries, and scientific institutions and societies. They may be obtained 
upon application to the Director. 

The latest edition of the guide to the Museum is on sale at the 
principal entrances to the building, and can also be obtained by mail. 
Price, 25 cents. 


